Office of the Historian

740.00119 EW/12–2145: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Caffery)

Washington, December 21, 1945—7 p.m.

5989. For Angell No. 106. Dept does not feel that changes proposed in ur letter of inst89 indicate any change on its policy re plant removal. This connection, recently issued statement re implementation Potsdam formula90 shd be significant. Dept recognizes there may be verbal difficulties re jurisdiction ACR and ACC but feels strongly such diffs as may appear on paper are in fact being reconciled even now, and will be reconciled entirely when you discuss with Gen. Clay. Essential fact is that members your staff—Abramovitz,91 Ozer,92 Dietrich,93 et al.—will be utilized by OMGUS in course of preparation, of removals plan. Feb 1946 deadline in particular makes clear such competent tech staff as you have will be relied on heavily, and there will be no substantive question of jurisdiction which will trouble you.

Re your specific questions Dept has not completely abandoned position re review ACC removal plan, but feels combined operations on this plan along lines above given will in substance take care of review questions, and if 4-power agreement is obtained in Control Council, 4-power ratification by govts rather than ACR will be sufficient. May be more important to provide for review by ACR of points on which ACC agreement cannot be reached. Policy guidance direct to OMGUS can, under present arrangements, go only through regular War Dept channels, but again necessity for utilizing all available and competent personnel and coordination of policy in Dept shd prevent any diffs. Is anticipated ur staff will have no diff in obtaining relevant info from OMGUS, and indications from that portion ur staff already in Berlin are that no problems this sort are likely to arise.

Evident that one of most important issues facing quadripartite Reparation Commission in Berlin is agreement on reparation from [Page 1484] current output and stocks for all four zones. Clear that implementation of first charge prin in Potsdam Protocol will be impossible unless USSR agrees to no reparation from current output and does not take out substantial quants of existing stocks under guise of war booty. Dept canvassing with OMGUS desirability of submitting these issues to quadripartite Rep Com. Subject ur approval Dept prepared to request USSR convene meeting of quadripartite Rep Com in Berlin early next year.

Acheson
  1. See telegram 5511, November 26, 8 p.m., to Paris, p. 1417.↩
  2. Statement by the Department of State on the Reparation Settlement and the Peacetime Economy of Germany, December 12, 1945; for text, see Department of State Bulletin, December 16, 1945, p. 960.↩
  3. Moses Abramovitz, Special Adviser to the United States representative, and Chief of the German Economic Section, United States Delegation, Allied Commission on Reparations.↩
  4. Sol Ozer, German Economic Section, United States Delegation, Allied Commission on Reparations.↩
  5. Ethel B. Dietrich, German Economic Section, United States Delegation, Allied Commission on Reparations.↩