868.51/11–1846
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Near Eastern Affairs (Jernegan)
Mr. Maclean42a referred to the notes recently delivered by the Greek Government to the American and British representatives in Athens requesting urgent assistance in connection with the critical Greek position in foreign exchange. He remarked that at the same time Prime Minister Tsaldaris had sent a personal communication to Mr. Bevin on the same subject.
The British Foreign Office, Mr. Maclean said, intended to consult the Department before sending a reply to the formal note. Meanwhile, however, it had been trying to draft something encouraging in response to the personal message to Mr. Bevin. At first, the Foreign Office had been disposed to minimize the seriousness of the situation, believing that the Greeks had overlooked some of the assets they could draw upon. When this attitude was communicated to the British Ambassador at Athens, he had demurred and had insisted that the position was in fact extremely grave. As an immediate palliative step, he had suggested that it would be helpful if the United States would make early public announcement of its intention to send an economic mission to Greece. This suggestion had been relayed to Mr. Bevin in New York, and he had instructed the Embassy to pass it on to the Department.
I told Mr. Maclean that the Greeks had made a similar request to us,43 that Mr. Byrnes, Mr. Acheson and Mr. Clayton were informed of it, and that the Department planned to make an announcement as soon as it could be sure of a man to head the mission. We thought it would be awkward to say anything publicly before that. I understood that a selection had been made tentatively, but I did not know whether the man in question had yet accepted the designation. Mr. Maclean said that he understood the situation and would duly report it.
When leaving, Mr. Maclean reiterated his remark that the Embassy would consult with the Department in due course regarding the answer to be made to the formal Greek note on the exchange situation. He seemed to want to make sure that this was understood.