Office of the Historian

811.0145/5–1545

Memorandum by Mr. Eugene H. Dooman, Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of State (Dunn), to the Assistant Secretary of State (Acheson)50

[Washington,] May 15, 1945.

Mr. Acheson: I am obliged to trouble you again with regard to the “Resources of the Continental Shelf and Coastal Fisheries” papers.

The memorandum51 which you prepared (attached) was signed by Mr. Grew and endorsed by Mr. Ickes, and, along with the papers approved by Mr. Roosevelt was submitted by Mr. Grew to the President on April 30. Mr. Grew, when returning the papers to me a week or so ago, authorized me to proceed with discussions with the missions in Washington of other interested governments. He said that the President had handed the papers to him at a cabinet meeting and, in so doing, had expressed verbally his approval of the policy papers.

The President did not, however, give any directive with regard to discussions with appropriate members of the House and Senate.

Will you be so good as to indicate what should be done, in the light of the circumstances above set forth, in the matter of discussions with members of the House and Senate?

E[ugene] H. D[ooman]
  1. Marginal notation by Mr. Dooman: “The questions raised by the President are being examined by Justice and Interior. I believe that a test case is soon to be brought into the courts.” Mr. Dooman refers to the case, U.S. v. California, 332 U.S. 19, pp. 42–50.↩
  2. Dated April 30, p. 1503.↩