740.00119 Council/12–1545: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Secretary of State, at Moscow81
2531. Secdel 10.82 On December 14 the Senate Atomic Energy Committee called on the President, who asked me to be present. The Committee was disturbed by their conference with you and in fact stated their position as being, first, that, from what you had said and from the presence of Dr. Conant, they believed that you intended to disclose scientific information at your meetings in Moscow; second, that, if this was not the case, they believed that you were going to discuss and possibly make an agreement to disclose all information in advance of any arrangements for inspection and safeguards; third, that they were in favor of no exchange of information until arrangements for inspection and safeguards had been worked out and put into effect.
It was further stated by Senator Vandenberg that instructions which you took with you, by providing that the various stages referred to therein might be discussed independently, contemplated that an agreement might be reached regarding exchange of information prior to any agreement in regard to inspection and safeguards.
It was explained by the President, and with his permission by me also, that the Committee’s impression referred to under first above was a misconception and that you had no intention whatever of disclosing any scientific information in the course of your present mission. It [Page 610] was explained further that you intended primarily to discuss in Moscow the matter of securing Soviet support for the establishment of the United Nations Commission; that, insofar as the exchange of information was concerned, you intended merely to discuss the terms and conditions under which the ordinary freedom of scientific discussion could take place between scientists of this country and other countries in the field of atomic energy. This would apply only to pure research and scientific theory and not to applied science, technical know-how, or ordnance techniques. It was also pointed out that scientific information of this character would soon be freely available in the scientific journals and in scientific meetings in this country and hence available to the scientists of other countries and that before this happened it was your purpose to see whether methods could be worked out for access by American scientists to similar material from the Soviet Union, thus establishing a basis for good will and mutual confidence rather than suspicion.
The President made it clear that any proposals advanced would be referred here before agreement was reached and that he had no intention of agreeing to disclose any information regarding the bomb at this time or unless and until arrangements for inspection and safeguards could be worked out.
The Senators repeated all of the statements which they had made at your meeting and all agreed in the views expressed in the first paragraph of this message.
The President has seen this message.83
- Responding to this telegram in his telegram 4196, Delsec 10, December 17, from Moscow, the Secretary of State informed the Acting Secretary “you can tell the President that I do not intend presenting any proposal outside the framework of the three power declaration” and transmitted the text of the paper entitled “United States Proposals on Atomic Energy”. (740.00119 Council/12–1745) This paper, which was circulated at the end of the Third Formal Meeting of the Conference, is printed as enclosure 3 to the United States delegation minutes of that meeting, p. 663.↩
- “Secdel” was the designation assigned to a series of telegrams from the Department of State to the American delegation to the Moscow Conference of Foreign Ministers; “Delsec” was the designation for telegrams from the American delegation to the Department.↩
- The original bears the notation “OK HST”.↩