851.00/2792: Telegram
The Chargé in France (Tuck) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 8—1:40 a.m.]
675. It is still too early to attempt to gauge with any degree of accuracy the concrete intentions of the Laval Government particularly insofar as its foreign policy is concerned. It is reasonably certain that, for the time being at least, Laval is anxious to avoid a rupture of relations with the United States. The conciliatory tone of his remarks to me at the close of our second interview on May 5 (substance of which was reported in my 665, May 5, 7 p.m.75) appeared in the [Page 185] local press the following morning, producing both a favorable reaction and no little relief, particularly amongst those who are convinced of the necessity of continued friendly relations with the United States.
As regards Laval’s interior policy, qualified observers consider it possible that it may take the form of a gradual shifting towards the left in the sense of a revalorization of certain republican institutions. It is rumored that it is his intention eventually to reinsert the name French Republican the Official Journal and there are interesting indications that he is now endeavoring to resuscitate the functions and duties of the former Conseils Généraux.
We have it on the best of authority that at a recent Cabinet meeting, which met to consider the all important question of food supplies, Laval definitely opposed a reduction in the bread ration. This stand was quite evidently dictated by a desire to bolster his prestige in the country.
I feel it very necessary particularly at this time to stress the difficulty which we anticipate in our future endeavors to obtain even approximately reliable information. With the advent of Laval to the Government a fairly clean sweep took place in the Marshal’s entourage as well as in many Government administrations and in the Foreign Office. The result has been that a number of our most useful contacts who had been built up over a period of time have now disappeared. With Laval’s tendency to keep even the more important of his subordinates in ignorance of his intentions the prospect of obtaining reliable information is anything but bright. During Laval’s past official life this tendency for official reticence was notorious and the man who today is perhaps in the best position to testify as to the extent to which Laval chose to ignore him is Alexis Léger.76