882.01 Foreign Control/300
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Castle)
I told the British Ambassador that I wanted to talk with him about a telegram we had received from Monrovia. I said that the Minister had had a conversation with Mr. Barclay and I then outlined to him with proper expurgations the contents of telegram No. 66 of June 24th from Monrovia. The Ambassador was very much interested with this suggestion on the part of Mr. Barclay. He said that he could not imagine his Government opposing the appointment of an American as adviser. He agreed with me that, on the whole, Barclay’s attitude was more favorable than might have been expected. I told him that, if this proposal came through and was agreeable to the League, we were inclined to try to put it into effect, on condition that the adviser should be given clear and unmistakable powers; I pointed out to him that our original objection to the [Page 744] League plan had been that the principal adviser had not been given sufficient authority, that it was altogether too expensive and that we felt the details could be better worked out in Liberia by an adviser who had authority to act; I said that since this suggestion of Mr. Barclay might lead to giving sufficient authority to the adviser and seemed to meet our other objections, it would be favorably considered by this Government, on condition that it appealed to the League. The Ambassador said he was sure that his Government would be in favor of it and that it seemed to him more sensible than anything so far suggested; he said he was quite sure that the League would not be opposed to having an American in charge since it was a case where nobody wanted to attempt to get any advantage over anybody else.