501.BC Atomic/3–2946
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Acting Secretary of State
At the end of Mr. Makins’99 call upon me, the principal subjects of which have been described in other memoranda, he told me that he was reading with very great interest the report of the Consultants on the international control of atomic energy which was released last night. While he had not finished it he was finding it a most thoughtful paper. He believed that it was not very far from ideas which were developing in London. He mentioned specifically that part of the report which dealt with the control of raw materials. He did not express himself on the international control of primary producing plants or of the production of explosives. I stressed to Mr. Makins that the report was, of course, only a working paper and did not reflect established Government policy. He said that he understood this. He asked when I expected the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission to meet and when I thought the United States Government policy would be crystallized. I told him that I could not offer an opinion on these subjects beyond saying that a great deal of work remained to be done. He said that Sir Alexander Cadogan1 had expressed a desire to come to Washington to discuss these matters with me. I replied that I should be delighted to see Cadogan and would be most happy to discuss with him the ideas expressed in the report. I could not, however, as of the present time be very helpful to him on the other matters he mentioned.