Foreign Relations of the United States: Diplomatic Papers, 1942, General; the British Commonwealth; the Far East, Volume I

840.50/393: Telegram

The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Matthews) to the Secretary of State

London, April 29, 1942—7 p.m.
[Received April 29—3:40 p.m.]

2263. I asked Mr. Eden this morning, with reference to the Embassy’s telegram No. 2162, April 25, 3 p.m., whether he was really seriously concerned at the prospect of a slight delay in undertaking the conversations between British and American economists on the general question of post-war economic cooperation. He said that he did not believe that a little delay would do much harm but what he does hope is that our representatives will not come with any rigid instructions or preconceived detailed plans. He hopes that these first talks will be entirely informal and primarily exploratory and that for this reason he is not selecting on the British side any set of permanent officials with fixed prejudices or narrow specialized background.

Matthews