740.00113 European War 1939/784: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Matthews) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 12—1 p.m.]
1760. Department’s 860, February 8, 9 p.m. The appropriate official of the Foreign Office (Ward)19 has been informed of the substance of the above telegram and it was made clear that the United States Government does not consider itself bound by the explanatory memorandum for the guidance of press and radio on the declaration on property transfers in enemy-dominated countries.
In informal conversation he explained that the change in paragraph 5 of the explanatory memorandum on the declaration on transfers of property in enemy-dominated territories was made to avoid giving the impression that the French National Committee were recognized as a government. He emphasized that the operative instrument in relation to commitments for the parties concerned is the declaration itself and not the explanatory memorandum. The status of the latter is only that of a communiqué to the press and public.
The Foreign Office official said that the reference in paragraph 5 of the explanatory memorandum to the parties being “mutually pledged to assist one another as may be required” arose out of the last paragraph of the declaration itself. The origin of that paragraph was explained in section (1) of Embassy’s 5422, September 29,20 in the paragraph immediately following the text of the declaration.
While expressing regret that anything in the explanatory memorandum may have created embarrassment for the Department, the Foreign Office official expressed confidence that difficulties would not be likely to arise in practice, since it may be hoped that when the [Page 449] time comes after victory to implement the declaration there will be a recognized government of France.
- John G. Ward, Acting First Secretary, British Foreign Office.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1942, vol. i, p. 77.↩