868.76/15: Telegram
The Chargé in Greece ( Goold ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 6:20 p.m.]
36. Your 23, May 6, 6 p.m. On Monday morning, learning that this matter was to come before the technical commission of the Ministry of Communications that morning, I addressed a letter to Mr. Venizelos once again expressing the hope that a final decision would be postponed until Mr. Durham had an opportunity to present his case.
Yesterday I was informed by Durham’s agent here that commission had met on Monday and found:
- 1.
- That the Durham offer was better financially;
- 2.
- That offers were equally good technically but recommended that Marconi offer be accepted because Army and Navy were accustomed to Marconi apparatus.
I called upon Mr. Papadatos, assistant to Mr. Venizelos, who immediately inquired by telephone of Minister of Communications as to status of the case, reporting the latter as saying that the committee had found the Durham offer better financially and the Marconi offer better technically and recommended that the contract be granted to Marconi. I then asked Mr. Papadatos to express to Mr. Venizelos my regret that in spite of my repeated representations the Minister of Communications had not seen fit to postpone consideration of the matter by the committee until the almost imminent arrival of Mr. Marconi [Durham?].
This morning I received a letter from the Prime Minister in which he stated that it is difficult for him to occupy himself with such matters; that his intervention may often result in delaying rather than hastening their solution; that in future he would appreciate my applying to the competent departments through the Foreign Office. He added that he had communicated the contents of my letter to the Minister of Communications who will see that I receive the report of the technical committee of the Ministry. The Technical Board of Trade was a private organization the report of which would not be adopted by the Ministry.
I am replying, stating that my letters to him on the subject have been sent by way of carrying out your instructions; that I thoroughly realize how difficult it is for him to intervene in every question that arises and that it is my constant endeavor to trouble him as little as possible. The radio matter was one in which you were most interested in securing a hearing for Mr. Durham, hence your instructions to me to approach him in the case. I then expressed my regret that a decision has apparently been taken without giving [Page 113] Mr. Durham the opportunity of making technical explanations, notwithstanding the many representations I have made by way of carrying out your instructions.
This morning Durham’s agent called and told me that the matter is not closed yet, that it has been put over until Friday.