740.00119 FEAC/10–2245: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
9321. Please convey the following message from Secretary Byrnes to the Foreign Secretary:
“I regret that there should be any misunderstanding between us as to the terms of reference to govern the work of the Far Eastern Advisory Commission. I agreed that your suggestions for a revision of the reference should be considered by the Commission. But I did not read them and I certainly did not understand that I was committing my government to the suggestions before I had an opportunity carefully to consider them in consultation with our service departments. I am nonetheless embarrassed by the fact that Mr. Dunn did agree with Mr. Bennett.
“Article II C and Article IV 2 of your proposed revision of terms of reference would make it impossible for any directive to be issued on non-military matters unless it was approved by a majority of the Commission including two of the powers parties to the Potsdam Declaration. While I am eager to have full consultation among the Allies, such division of responsibility, I am convinced, would not work. It would make it wholly impossible for the Supreme Commander to act in matters of urgency or in case of dispute as to whether matters are military or non-military. It would make all directives depend upon a majority vote without any regard to the varying interests of the members. In practice it would cause more discord than harmony among the various governments concerned.
“We could agree to an Article II C reading:
‘The Commission shall be charged with the task of examining all proposed directives to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers on political matters which involve important questions of principle; and no such directive, unless it is a matter of urgency, shall be issued to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers without a reasonable time being granted to the Commission for its consideration. In a matter of urgency when an immediate directive to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers is issued, the issuance of such directive shall not preclude the Commission from considering the matter and recommending further, or other, action.’
“We could also agree to Article IV 2 reading:
‘In the absence of unanimity, the Commission may approve recommendations for submission to the participating Governments, if adopted by a majority of the representatives present, provided that this majority includes the representatives of at least two of the powers party to the Potsdam Proclamation of July 26, 1945; namely, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and the Soviet Union.’
“These provisions will ensure that the Commission will have an effective voice but not a determinating voice in the making of policy. I hope that on further consideration you will agree with me that it is not wise or practical to attempt to make an 11–power commission an executive body.”