CFM Files
Memorandum of Conversation, by J. Wesley Jones of the United States Delegation
| Participants: | The Secretary |
| Sig. Giuseppe Saragat, Italian Delegate for the Paris Conference | |
| Ambassador Tarchiani | |
| Mr. Jones |
The Secretary received Sig. Saragat, President of the Italian Constituent Assembly, at 3:00 this afternoon at the latter’s request. Sig. Saragat said that he wished to thank the Secretary for all that the American Delegation had done for Italy in the Conference. He said that he was aware and that a great many Italians were aware of the abundant material assistance which the United States had given Italy during the period of her co-belligerency and in the post-hostilities period. He said, however, that there was one thing lacking and that was insufficient or ineffective American propaganda to let the people of Italy know precisely what the United States had done and was continuing to do for their country. He said that there were a certain number of people in Italy who, while in a minority, were powerful in the internal political field and who because of ideological orientation toward certain Eastern Powers had a certain distrust of United States motives. They were, he said, greatly influenced by Soviet propaganda through the Italian Communist Party which presented every Russian move as a generous gesture with respect to Italy and portrayed the United States as a capitalistic country seeking to exploit and enslave the Italian workers and economy under the guise of economic assistance. The Secretary explained that the United States Government did not engage in propaganda as such and asked why newspapers and other publications could not offset this propaganda by printing the facts of American economic assistance to Italy which were freely obtainable. Sig. Saragat replied that while the Soviet Union had a party and Communist publications in Italy which were frankly expressing the Soviet view none of the other parties or party organs could, as Italian political organizations, undertake the championship of another foreign power and that therefore it was ultimately the responsibility of the United States to present its case in Italy. The Secretary said that he was only too familiar with these complaints from certain quarters abroad of American enslavement of foreign peoples through loans and other forms of economic [Page 665] assistance and that he had had occasion recently to terminate any further assistance to countries who had adopted this line of complaint. He added that this apparently had not pleased either since their representatives had subsequently come around “seeking further enslavement”.
The Secretary spoke to Ambassador Tarchiani about Italian capacity to pay reparations, recalling that the Italian Delegation’s statement before the Economic Commission that Italy could not pay more than between $200 and $300 million had made the United States position difficult in attempting to keep Italian reparations down to a lower figure. Ambassador Tarchiani explained that the Italian figure had included all forms of payment such as restitution, foreign assets, etc. He added that the French wanted reparations amounting to about $80 million, although he gave the Secretary to understand that this latter figure included assets in Italian territory ceded to France.
Sig. Saragat said that the truly democratic elements including the Italian Socialist Party, of which he is a member, needed the moral and spiritual support of the British and Americans in their difficult struggle against Soviet propaganda and Communist methods in Italy. The Secretary appreciated this need and said that he hoped to be able to give Italy further material support as well. Finally, he referred to a statement on American policy toward Italy which might be forthcoming within the next week or 10 days.