Ralph William Close

Ralph William Close came to diplomacy after a long career at the Cape bar and in Parliament. An advocate and King’s Counsel in Cape Town, he sat in the Union Parliament from 1915 to 1933. His public interests included the gold standard, mining, and the constitutional questions debated at the Imperial Conferences. He presented credentials as minister in Washington on 31 January 1934. ^{2, 4, 1}

During the Second World War, Close proposed a reciprocal aid agreement between South Africa and the United States. When he met Dean Acheson on 13 January 1943, the American official tied that proposal to South Africa’s improving foreign exchange position. Acheson argued that Pretoria should pay cash for nonmilitary goods and furnish raw materials, as well as assistance to American forces, through reciprocal aid. ³

Close asked whether these arrangements would restrict gold production or the purchase of American mining machinery. Acheson assured him that Washington was considering gold policy separately. British Treasury representative Frederick Phillips, who attended because the arrangements also affected Britain’s foreign exchange resources, objected to any implication that military assistance should require payment. Close undertook to examine the proposed agreement and seek instructions from Pretoria. ³