740.00119 Control (Rumania)/9–2344: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman)
2319. Reurtels 3643 and 3651 September 23. The British Embassy here has provided the Department with a copy of Clark-Kerr’s telegram of September 21 to Mr. Eden36 transmitting the text of the statutes prepared by the Soviet Government to govern the Allied Control Commission for Rumania. The Department desires to make the following proposals in this connection:
- 1.
- The Department would like to see a modification of point 6 (G), which restricts to five each the number of persons which may compose the American and British staffs of collaborators (your translation) or establishments (British version) on the Commission. Although we interpret this provision to mean that the head of the American delegation would be entitled to have on his staff up to five officers, apart from the necessary clerical and operating staff, we believe this would be inadequate to meet our requirements and should in any case prefer not to be limited in this regard in order that adequate staffs may be provided to meet the needs of whatever functions the Commission may be called upon to perform. The staff of the Soviet representative [Page 242] on the Allied Commission for Italy is understood to include a deputy representative, an assistant representative, an aide and four additional officers and it has been indicated that he expects four additional officers to arrive as his personal assistants. The Soviet Government has also, of course, been from the beginning actively represented with numerous personnel on the Advisory Council for Italy.
- 2.
- Although the question of formal diplomatic relations with the Rumanian Government does not arise, the Department desires to have during the armistice period full liberty of informal contact with the Rumanian Government, as well as the means of ensuring the protection of American interests. For this reason, we expect to have political representation in Rumania as agreed to by Mr. Molotov last April. We should like the American representation to function as a unit, and for the reasons set forth below, we attach considerable importance to the civilian part of the delegation. While the statutes set up for the Control Commission seem to envisage largely military functions, we would prefer, so far as this Government is concerned, not to have to set up a separate establishment for political representation, at least at this stage.
- 3.
- The Department desires that the American political representatives on the Commission should initially consist of a senior political representative and two Foreign Service Officers as his assistants, plus two code clerks and two stenographers. (For your information, Burton Y. Berry, now Consul General at Istanbul, will be designated as the senior political representative and he will be assisted by Foreign Service Officers Roy M. Melbourne, now at Caserta, and Charles E. Hulick, now at Cairo.)
- 4.
- Our military authorities have now indicated their view that the American military representation on the Commission should initially consist of three Army officers in the grade of colonel or lieutenant colonel (one Air Corps), and one Naval officer in the grade of captain or commander, plus the necessary clerical, enlisted and other administrative personnel. These officers and men have not yet been designated.
- 5.
- Inasmuch as Rumania does not have primary military interest for the United States, while on the other hand the Department attaches considerable importance to the “protection” aspects of our work, involving citizenship, welfare, property interests, etc. which would come under the political section, we should like to designate our political representative as head of the American delegation with the personal rank of Minister.
Please inform the Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the foregoing and say that the Department would appreciate being apprised [Page 243] as soon as may be possible whether these proposals regarding the American representation on the Allied Control Commission for Rumania are acceptable to the Soviet Government.
Sent to Moscow, repeated to London, AmPolAd (Caserta), and Ankara (for Istanbul).
- Anthony Eden, British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩