740.00119 Council/10–2346
The Secretary of State to the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs (Bevin)
Dear Ernie: I refer to your letter of September 974 with regard to the Italian cables. I am very glad to know that you found it possible to see your way clear to letting the Italians have the cables back. I think that it will prove in the long run to be a wise decision from the viewpoint of the general considerations which we mentioned when we discussed this matter.
There is one point in your letter which troubles me a little. I think you are perfectly justified in insisting that no expense should be placed upon the British Government in connection with the return of the cables. I have no particular feeling with regard to the continued operation of the cables to Portugal and to South America through Gibraltar. The point which disturbs me is the suggestion that you would like, as a condition to the return of the cables, to require that the cable to the Azores continue to run through Gibraltar.
As I understand the situation, it has been the feeling of your people that it was necessary to maintain the existing relay point of Gibraltar for security reasons. Our technical people have gone into this matter in some detail, and they do not consider that such an arrangement would be necessary in connection with the Azores cable, since the cables with which the Azores cable connects at Horta are all under your control or ours. Under the circumstances, it seems rather difficult to justify this particular condition which, as you are probably aware, is likely to give rise to some domestic difficulty from our viewpoint. I am not asking that you agree at this time to any other arrangement, but I would prefer that the maintenance of the relay point of Gibraltar not be a condition to the return of this one cable.
I should very much appreciate having your thoughts on this point.
Sincerely yours,