740.00119 EW/5–1445: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Charge in the Soviet Union (Kennan)
1090. Reurtel 1578, May 14, 9 p.m. It is requested that you communicate to Maisky the following information with respect to (1) our present views concerning representation on the Reparation Commission, (2) purpose of the proposed trip of Pauley and Lubin to Germany and (3) approximate arrival date of Pauley and Lubin in Moscow.
In view of Soviet opposition to initial participation of France in the reparation discussions, we are prepared to begin such discussions on a tripartite basis. We continue, however, to regard the question of French participation as of key importance, and we expect that the issue will be given renewed consideration at an early stage in the reparation discussions. We remain of the view that unless France participates in the formulation of an agreed reparation program, the execution of the program on a coordinated basis within Germany may be seriously hampered by French opposition in the Control Council. Moreover, we do not consider French zone as of negligible economic importance, and we wish to avoid unilateral action with respect to reparation on the part of any of the Allied countries.
The purpose of Pauley’s and Lubin’s hasty inspection of German industrial areas is to obtain a quick, first-hand impression of German resources available for reparation claims, as a background for their discussions in Moscow.
Pauley and Lubin expect to devote about a week or ten days to this inspection tour and then to proceed at once to Moscow. They should arrive in Moscow in the first week of June. Their tour of German industrial areas will not be concerned with the problem of rehabilitating industrial plants.