500.CC/8–1444
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State 83
Subject: Meeting of Foreign Secretaries on Security Matters
After the British delegation to the security conversations had left my office following a courtesy call, the British Ambassador and Sir Alexander Cadogan, remained. I suggested that before the three Foreign Secretaries met on international matters and especially to decide on any formal agreement, possibly in September, it would be very important first to discuss steps toward conferring with the small nations.84 I said that if our four nations should go on until they turned out to the world a completed document and then undertook to send copies to the small nations in a “take it or leave it” manner, as the whole movement would be construed, it would be difficult to avoid serious attacks by demagogues, politicians, uninformed persons, et cetera. I said that Mr. Eden had first suggested this meeting of the three Secretaries.85 They said that they could see the importance of this suggestion and that they would take it up with Mr. Eden.86
- Copy transmitted to London in instruction 4462, August 19, not printed.↩
- For correspondence on concern of the United States over the attitude of nonparticipating governments toward the Dumbarton Oaks Conversations, see pp. 924 ff.↩
- Mr. Eden’s proposal of “a further meeting of the Secretaries following the Moscow meeting to consolidate the three Governments’ views in relation to a postwar security organization” was conveyed in telegram 4919, June 20, 8 p.m. (500.CC/76), and telegram 6260, August 4, midnight (500.CC/8–444), from London; neither printed.↩
- No such meeting of the Foreign Secretaries as envisaged in these communications took place.↩