Evening star., 1941-05-20
u. ). Offers 10 Sell
Fire Two Ships for
Transporting Food
Red Cross Ready to Spend
$780, 900 for Supplies
To Be Included in Cargo
BACKGROUND

IRISH government long has been
seeking to make arrangements
here for ships to carry food and
other materials to Ireland, since
normal transportation has been
disrupted by ,0ar conditions, cut
ting of American shipping to
Irish ports and obliqing the Brit
tsh to concentrate their shipping
facilities on movement OF tUlr
supplies. Irish also hare sought
to buy defense materials here.
BY GARRETT d. HORNER.
President Roosevelt announced
today that the United States has
offered to sell or charter two ships
to the Irish government for the
transport of American food supplies
to the civilian population of Fire.
The American Red Cross also is
ready to use about $500,000 of re-
lief funds appropriated by Congress
to buy food to make up part of the
cargo of the two vessels. which
would sail under the Irish flag, the
President said.
A spokesman at the Irish Lega-
ton here said the offers had been
transmitted to the Irish govern
ment, but no decision had been
made on whether they would be ac-
cepted.
In response to questions at his
press conference, Mr.. Roosevelt
said the ships and food offers were
not preliminary to any other de-
velopment in Irish American rela-
tions. There have been reports that
the British government might en-
list United States assistance in ne
gotiating for the use of naval and
air bases in Ireland.
Aiken to Return Home.
1t was learned, meanwhile, that
Irish efforts to negotiate for large
quantities of defense materials here
had collapsed and that Frank Aiken,
Irish defense minister, who has been
conducting the negotiations here,
plans to return home soon.
The Irish were understood to
have been told that the demand for
American defense materials now is
two or three times the supply and
there is not anything left over after
supplying all possible aid to those
nations which are actively waging
war in defense of democracy.
Provision of the ships to carry
food to Fire would relieve an imni-
nent shortage of basic food sup
plies created by lack of transporta-
tion facilities.
A spokesman at the Irish Lega-
ton said the Red Cross offer TO
contribute s500000 worth of food
was made because many thousands
of refugees from England have
crowded into Ireland following the
wholesale German bombines of
English cities. The Red Cross sup
plies, he said, would be used en-
tlrely for relief of these refugees.
IT the United States offer is ac-
cepted. the two ships will carry. In
addition to the Red Cross supplies
food materials purchased by the
Irish here. Nearly 10000 tons OF
foodstufts and materials that 90 into
food production have piled up or
piers in New York during the last
three months. awaiting transporta
ton to Ireland, it was said at the
Legation.
The spokesman said that no acute
food shortage was being suffered ir
ireland as yet. but that supplies
were dwindling and, unless adequate
transportation could be arranged i'm
shortages would cause the
rationing of bread, tea and, possibly
other products in the near future
One of the most unfortunate as
poets of the present situation, he
added, is that many small factories
which have been engaged in process
sing foodstuffs in Ireland have been
forced to shut down because of short
age Of raw materials, creating wide
spread unemployment.
In an effort to break through the
transportation bottleneck, the Irish
government already has purchased
one ship Independently in New York,
a South American-hag vessel, and is
to be negotiating for at
least one more. y
The offer announced by President
Roosevelt to sell or charter two
American-flag vessels to the Irish
would facilitate solution of the
transportation difiulties. Their in
efforts to purchase ships
were said to have been complicated
by existing shortages in shipping
facilities generally. with prices sky.