DEAR CAPTAIN PEAT: I have duly received your letter of the 20th October contents of which I have noted.

I have no objection to Mr. Clasen attending occasionally unofficial meetings with no circulation of minutes and with no binding powers. Mr. Clesen had already been instructed that he could keep in touch with you and his colleagues for the sake of information.

This is meeting your wishes and I am pleased to thus having complied with

CHER MONSIEUR PEAT: Je viens de prendre connaissance de votre lettre du 20 octobre, dont le contenu a retenu toute mon attention.

Par mes lettres des 28 septembre et 17 octobre, je vous ai fait part de mon sentiment sur l'eventualité du maintiene, même à l'état embryonnaire, du Bureau de l'I. R. M. A. à Londres. Je ne vois aucune raison, dans les circonstances actuelles, qui puisse me faire changer d'avis sur ce point.

Je considère donc que les effets de la Convention I. R. M. A., tout comme ceux des autres ententes internationales, sont suspendus à partir du 1er septembre 1939, et que chaque participant a repris, à cet égard, son entière liberté depuis cette date.

Je suis néammoins d'accord de ma rallier, jusqu'à nouvel avis, à la suggestion que vous voulez bien me faire à titre personnel et suivant laquelle ié pourrait y avoir intérêt é ce que les délégués du Comité de Londres se recontrent, de temps à autre, dans le seul but de tenir un certain contact et de se communiquer mutuellement les informations qui pourraient venir à leur connaissance et intéressent la tenue du marché des rails.

Je tiens cependant à bien préciser, de façon à éviter tout malentendu, que l'object de ces réunions ne pourrait jamais être qu'un moyen de documentation mutuelle et réciproque.

J'ai porté ce qui précède à la connaissance de Mr. Menzies, en lui disant que, dans ces conditions, je ne voyais aucun inconvénient à ce qu'il assiste aux réunions en question.

Veuillez agréer, cher Monsieur Peat, l'expression de mes sentiments très distingués.

(Signed) F. PEROT.

EXHIBIT S-154

[Translation]

OUGREE, 3RD NOVEMBER 1939.

DEAR MR. PEATS: I have just taken note of your letter of the 20th October, the contents of which received my entire attention.

In my letters of the 28th September and 17th October, I informed you of my views on eventually maintaiining, even in an embryo state, the offices of the

I. R. M. A. in London. I see no reason, in the present circumstances, which could cause me to change my views on this matter.

I consider, therefore, that the effects of the I. R. M. A. Agreement, as well as those of the other International understandings, are suspended as from the 1st September 1939 and that each participant has retaken, in this respect, their entire liberty from that date.

I am, nevertheless, agreeable to fall in, until further notice, with the sugges tion put to mae in your personal communication and according to which it would be of interest that the London Delegates should meet, from time to time, with the sole object of maintaining a certain contact and to mutually communicate information which would come to their notice and would be of interest to the Rail Market.

I wish, however, to state precisely, in a manner to obviate all misunderstanding, that the objects of these meetings would never be other than a means of mutual and reciprocal information.

I have communicated the aforesaid to Mr. Menzies, informing him that, under these conditions, I do not see any objection that he attends the meetings in question.

DEAR MR. ELLIOT: We have decided to wind up the E. I. A. (London) Central Office whose activity--you will certainly agree with me-is no longer justified neither from the viewpoint of Licensing nor from that of the co-ordination between groups. The activity of the latter has been following different lines since the war and a co-operation in the ancient manner does no longer hold good between them. It has also appeared useless, in those conditions, to keep on involving unproductive expenses. It is my intention, nevertheless, to propose to my colleagues to preserve the Company's style who will thus only be dormant.

M. Dubar's office will cease all activity as from March 31st, and M. Dubar may give you full particulars as to commissions which may still be due to the British Iron and Steel Corporation on prewar orders. It will be for the Concessionaires interested to henceforward substitute themselves individually for M. Dubar in the matter of effecting returns and payments of agreed commissions to you. Of course, I am not speaking of the Concessionaires who represented the German Group and who refuse to pay their due to the British Iron and Steel Corpora tion. We have no action on them and I regret to say that neither the E. I. A. (London) nor the E. I. A. (Luxemburg) are in a position to interfere with them or substitute themselves for them.

With best regards,

Yours very sincerely,

(Signed) DIEUDONNE