824.504/67
The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the Joint United States–Bolivian Labor Mission (Magruder)
My Dear Justice Magruder: In amplification of the Department’s letter to you of January 22, 194377 concerning your designation as chairman of the mission of labor experts which this Government is sending to Bolivia on the invitation of the Government of that country, I enclose herewith for your information copies of communications on this general subject exchanged between the Bolivian Ambassador to the United States and Mr. Laurence Duggan, Adviser on Political Relations of this Department.78
I believe that a study of these communications will reveal clearly the motives underlying this Government’s acceptance of the invitation of the Bolivian Government as well as define the scope of the proposed inquiry. As the Bolivian Ambassador states, cooperation between Bolivia and the United States has thus far embraced a number of important fields but that of labor conditions has not been touched upon. We recognize the vital importance of this factor in Bolivia’s internal economy and the bearing which it has on the production of the strategic metals which are today needed for the war effort.
The penultimate and final paragraphs of Mr. Duggan’s communication give the Department’s view as to the scope of the survey and subsequent procedure for executing the recommendations which may be reached by the Bolivian and American commissions. The final paragraph makes it clear that the function of the American mission is to cooperate in a fact-finding survey with the persons designated by the Bolivian Government and that the initiative for carrying out the recommendations rests solely with the Bolivian Government. [Page 611] Even though this Government has been invited by the Bolivian Government to make a study of what is a matter of internal concern, nevertheless it is important that you and the members of your mission discharge your duties with extreme care so as not to give any grounds for charge that this Government is intervening in the internal affairs of Bolivia.
On the basis of the letters exchanged with the Bolivian Government it is clear that it is the desire of the Bolivian Government that this fact-finding survey be a joint affair, and it is also clear that the Bolivian Government desires that the report be the joint product of the investigations of the two commissions, Bolivian and United States. I am confident that with tact and discretion you will be able to bring about the adoption of a joint report satisfactory to you and your colleagues as well as to the members of the Bolivian commission.
You will, I am sure, wish to confer with the American Ambassador to Bolivia, who, in view of his responsibility for the conduct of our relations with Bolivia, should be kept informed as to the general progress of your activities. I am requesting him to make fully available to you his own knowledge of conditions in Bolivia as well as that of members of his official staff. I feel certain that you may count on all possible cooperation in this connection.
While it is of course essential that the mission carry out its survey with complete autonomy and independence, I am sure you and the members of the mission will at all times be receptive to appropriate suggestions and guidance from the Ambassador on matters of policy and procedure affecting our general relations with Bolivia.
If the Bolivian Government on the basis of recommendations submitted by the two commissions requests the presence there of technical experts in certain fields, relating to your inquiry, the Department will make every reasonable effort to arrange to send them to La Paz.
In closing, I should like to express my sincere hope that your mission will be able to discharge successfully its delicate and important task and that as a result of its endeavors, recommendations will be formulated the execution of which will eventually bring improvement in the social, working and living conditions of Bolivian mine labor.
Sincerely yours,