Foreign Relations of the United States, Diplomatic Papers, 1945, European Advisory Commission, Austria, Germany, Volume III

740.00119 EW/11–2045

Minutes of Meeting of the Secretaries of State, War, and the Navy, Held at Washington, November 20, 1945, 10:30 a.m.

Washington, November 20, 1945, 10:30 a.m.

[Extract]

Present:	The Secretary of State
	The Secretary of War, accompanied by Assistant Secretary of War John J. McCloy and Colonel Charles W. McCarthy
	The Secretary of the Navy and Major Correa
	Mr. Matthews

. . . . . . .

Personnel for Military Government

Mr. Patterson stated that he had asked Treasury for certain financial experts to be employed by our Military Government in Japan and Germany. Mr. Vinson had answered that he could have them only if they were made responsible to the Treasury Department and reported to him. Mr. Patterson replied that this was quite out of line with the policy which had long been established that all must be responsible to the Commander-in-Chief of the theatre in question. He said it would be quite disruptive to have different people answerable to different agencies in this country. He said that he had sent Mr. Byrnes a copy of his memorandum on this subject.⁶² Mr. Forrestal agreed that such procedure would be quite disruptive and remarked that he could not have Admiral Ghormley⁶³ to continue to report directly to the Navy as he has done occasionally in the past. Mr. Byrnes said that Mr. Vinson had spoken to him on the subject. Mr. Patterson pointed out that he had merely asked for technical and competent personnel which the Treasury could provide and he expected them to fit into the regular Military Government machinery. Mr. Byrnes suggested that the War Department might get personnel from Mr. Eccles of the Federal Reserve.⁶⁴ Mr. McCloy said that a somewhat similar situation existed with respect to the State Department and mentioned a recent cable from General Clay on this question.⁶⁵ The cable pointed out that the General’s personal relations with Murphy were excellent and that it was merely a question of someone down the line in the State Department sending out instructions which were misinterpreted on receipt. Mr. Matthews explained the need for the State Department to furnish Mr. Murphy with guidance in order that he could express a State Department view when called upon for advice by General Clay and others; that he presumed that some people on lower levels in Germany were probably interpreting these guidance telegrams in the sense of instructions to General Clay and to our Military Government, an interpretation which is quite erroneous. It was generally agreed that the situation could be easily ironed out.

. . . . . . .

62. Not printed. Under cover of a letter of November 15, the Secretary of War had forwarded to Mr. Byrnes copies of his correspondence with the Secretary of the Treasury (not printed). Included was a letter from Mr. Vinson of October 17, and Mr. Patterson’s reply of November 15 (740.00119 Control (Germany)/11–1545).
63. Vice Adm. Robert L. Ghormley, Commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Germany.
64. Marriner Eccles, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
65. See footnote 61, p. 1004.