840.50/457: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
3151. My 3115, 7th.27 On July 1 I asked the Russian and Chinese Ambassadors to come in and told them that we had kept their Governments in mind from the beginning of our consideration of the relief [Page 116] problem; that no definite plans had yet been reached for a program or even a final agenda, everything being purely tentative up to now; that we would let them see every tentative suggestion we reduced to writing and keep them advised of any phase of the conversations. I told them that the first problem would be to assemble the pertinent facts, to discuss and appraise them, and then to consider what concrete program might gradually be developed.
Immediately thereafter Acheson saw the two Ambassadors and told them that the Soviet memorandum, of which Maisky had given you a copy, had much impressed us and that for some time we had been attempting to formulate proposals along similar lines. He said that we had asked Leith-Ross to come here in order to test various ideas we had been developing in the light of his experience with the Inter-Allied Post War Requirements Bureau with a view to formulating proposals for early presentation to the British, Soviet and Chinese Governments. He said that the President would have to pass on the time such proposals could be made but that he hoped, subject to the President’s approval, that we would be able to make them shortly. Both Ambassadors said they would be available for conversations at any time.
We have had some preliminary conversations with Leith-Ross and find that his ideas are in general along the same lines as our own. As, however, I have not yet had an opportunity either to consider carefully or to obtain the President’s approval of certain of our own suggestions, the discussions with Leith-Ross are purely informal and tentative. He has agreed not to cable the substance of these suggestions to his Government for the time being.
He has shown us the draft aide-mémoire which Eden proposes to give in reply to the Soviet memorandum. In view of the circumstances I have described we should be grateful if Eden would replace the third paragraph by something following closely the following lines:
“3. It is understood however that the United States Government has given sympathetic consideration to the Soviet Government’s proposals and is now engaged in formulating suggestions, based upon them, for dealing with this whole problem on a wider basis. It has invited Sir Frederick Leith-Ross to go to Washington to give it the benefit of factual information and experience he has obtained through the work of the Inter-Allied Post War Requirements Bureau. It is further understood that the United States Government hope shortly to convey their suggestions to the British, Soviet and Chinese Governments. In expectation of this it would seem that the points of particular application raised in the Soviet Government’s memorandum might be left for consideration when the views of the United States Government are made known.”
- Not printed; it instructed the Ambassador to request Mr. Eden to defer his reply to the Soviet Ambassador for a day or two until the Secretary could talk to the President, which he hoped to do within 36 hours (840.50/391½).↩