865.01/2218b: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé at Algiers (Chapin)
803. For Reinhardt. The President has received the following telegram from the Prime Minister with further reference to the Italian political situation:95
“The proposal that the American and British Governments should accept without further delay the Six Party program was taken up by me this morning with the War Cabinet. The Cabinet asked me to give you my assurance that they are in full agreement that the future Italian government can only be settled by self-determination and also agree with your wish to establish a more broadly based government in Italy. They also agree with you that timing is the point to consider, but on this they have no doubt that before parting company with Badoglio and the King it would be far better to wait until we have taken Rome. From Rome a more representative and solidly based administration can be set up than is possible to construct now. The Cabinet feels that nothing could be worse for our joint interests and for the future of Italy than to set up a weak democratic government which flopped. Because it would be necessary to review it when the provinces in the north and great industrial centers favorable to us and essential to a democratic solution, like Milan and Turin, have been liberated, even a settlement reached at Rome could not be final. [Page 1061] The Cabinet does not think that the six parties could now replace the existing Italian government, which has worked in our interests loyally and effectively, nor that they are in any true sense representative of the Italian democracy or Italian nation.
The telegrams sent by the Allied Commander in Chief were before the War Cabinet while reaching these conclusions, but they do not share his views. Meanwhile we are quite ready to discuss the suggestions put to the State Department in paragraph 3 of the Foreign Secretary’s number 1783.95a Also it is of course recognized that the question of timing would have to be reviewed if the capture of Rome should be unduly delayed, say for two or three months.
They ask me, finally, to emphasize the great importance of not exposing any differences of opinion between our two governments to the world, especially now that Russia has taken independent action without consultation with other Allies in entering into direct relations with the Badoglio government. When waiting a few months might make it possible for all three governments to take united action, it would be a great pity if our respective viewpoints had to be argued out in Parliament and the Press.”
You will be informed of any reply which the President may make.