740.00119 ACI/11: Telegram
The American Representative to the French Committee of National Liberation at Algiers (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 24—8:08 p.m.]
17. From Murphy. Following telegram from Foreign Office making suggestions regarding organization of Advisory Council for Italy has been received by Macmillan.
“It has always been intention that Advisory Council for Italy should be established early as possible and I have no doubt you are as anxious as we are that it should start to function without further delay. I understand President is likely to appoint Mr. Murphy as United States of America representative and I assume that either Bogomolov or Vyshinski10 will be Soviet representative. If French committee delays answering their invitation it seems to us it would be perfectly in order for representatives of the three Governments to start work without a French colleague. I have no doubt he would follow very quickly.
- 2nd.
- Terms of reference provide that Council will be established at same place as headquarters of the CINC. In point of fact it will of course have to be located at headquarters of the Control Commission which will be wherever Italian Government is and which can in fact be regarded as headquarters of the CINC in his capacity as President of Control Commission. You will have therefore first to establish yourselves at Brindisi.
- 3d.
- There are three questions to do with the Council which were
left undecided at Moscow, viz., relationship between it and
Italian Government, chairmanship and the secretariat. None of
these questions is covered in the terms of reference but they
will have to be decided sooner or later and I should hope you
might be able to reach agreement about them with your colleagues
without reference to your respective Governments. Our own
thoughts on each point are as follows:
- 4.
- It will in practice be impossible to prevent each member of the Council from having direct access to the Italian Government, nor should we wish to prevent it. You yourself, for example will naturally become the channel through which His Majesty’s Government will communicate with the Italian Government, on such matters as do not concern the other Governments. But in matters of common interest to all you should try to insure, via the Council, always act [Page 432] as a body and that individual members do not approach the Italian Government independently. This principle should if possible be established and agreed upon at the outset.
- 5.
- The most workable solution of chairmanship question is that you arrange to rotate among British, American, Soviet, and French representative, but Yugoslav and Greek representatives may object. They are already showing signs of touchiness about only being brought into the Council at a later stage.
- 6.
- Secretariat. The Council could probably get along to a start without a secretariat but a small secretariat of some kind will inevitably be required at some stage for practical purposes. You will have to reach agreement as to its composition with your colleagues on the Council. A secretariat including representatives of all six countries would be unmanageable. Greek and Yugoslav susceptibilities may, however, prove an obstacle to a four power secretariat, and we doubt whether the ideal of an Anglo-American secretariat would be acceptable to Russian and French. If the others agree to an Anglo-American secretariat there is much to be said for suggestion that political section of Control Commission should provide the secretariat.”
The foregoing suggestions seem to be practical and satisfactory. I should appreciate the Department’s comment.
Sent Department, repeated London. [Murphy.]
- A. Y. Vyshinski, Vice President of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Soviet Union, Vice Commissar of Foreign Affairs; Soviet representative on the Allied Control Commission for Italy.↩