840.50 Recovery/9–747: Circular Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to Diplomatic Representatives Accredited to Countries Participating in the Conference of European Economic Cooperation and to the U.S. Political Adviser for Germany (Murphy)
us urgent
To certain American diplomatic offices. For Clayton and Caffery. 1. Have given careful consideration to action to be taken in light of (a) prospect Paris Conference report will be unsatisfactory as now being drafted, and (b) rapid deterioration of situation France, Italy and U.K. probably requiring action by US before end of year.
2. Department sending instructions (See circtel of this date repeated to you) to U.S. missions in each of participating countries with view of bringing pressure directly on participating governments in effort to secure (a) improvement present draft for issuance as preliminary report, and (b) continuance of conference after such issuance to develop more concrete proposals for mutual and self help and more accurate and thoroughly screened statistics than would be possible in short period of time. Circtel gives Department views on defects of [Page 416] Paris operation to date and line we assume you will continue to press on Paris conferees.
3. Propose that with aid of this pressure you and staff available in Paris continue to work with Paris Conference in effort to secure report by about September 21st, correct at least as to major policy lines. Department view is that this report be submitted to governments and to US with clear indication that it is preliminary, is intended as basis for further discussions, and is subject to future supplementation and amendment, particularly as to data and concrete implementation of principles. Department believes that it is not feasible to prevent publication of report, but it must contain such covering language as will make its tentative character clear.
4. Department proposes that agreement of Paris Conference and governments of participating countries be secured to a continuance of Paris Conference after publication preliminary report with purpose of screening and coordinating statistics and of translating general policies of self and mutual help into concrete implementation. Understand from Kennan and Bonesteel that you are thinking along same lines.
5. Such continuation also necessary to (a) supply the detailed information we shall need for screening here in light of U.S. availabilities and justification before Congress as outlined 7 below, and (b) permit conference to consider and perhaps adjust its program in the light of results of such screening. As part of this process it will be necessary that data be available on country by country basis. To make continuation effective, conference must give new instructions to working committees. To assist working committees to understand our requirements for screening, presentation and justification purposes, U.S. representatives should be available to sit in with Committees on informal advisory basis.
6. Propose that this process of revision and refinement be conducted on time schedule, agreed to by Conference, which will make available final supporting evidence for 1948 and at least revised skeleton presentation for entire period for key items by Nov. 1, 1947, and complete revised presentation for entire period by Dec. 15, 1947. This is for use by U.S. in presentation and does not prevent further revisions as new good or bad conditions arise.
7. Department envisages that program submitted to Congress will in any event have to be retailored from even best probable Paris presentation in the light of potential availabilities in the U.S. which will be far less, particularly as to food, than the minimums which the governments of the participating countries can support domestically as being their requirements.
[Page 417]8. In order to make task outlined in 4 fully effective, it is proposed to announce, subject to favorable response from Douglas on British reaction (See Deptel 3336 to Paris1), that Bizonal area of Germany, including U.S. governmental representatives, will take full part in continuing effort to produce integrated program containing maximum mutual help. To aid you in these discussions Clay expected to send personnel from Germany and Department will send representative soon.
9. This schedule for work in Paris is based on tentative thinking that Congressional Committees be called about November 15, and possibility that special session might be called for about December 1–15. If interim assistance is required, as now seems likely to Department, it must be presented to special session as interim installment of Marshall program and be substantiated as directly as possible by data contained in Paris Conference Report and its revisions. Therefore necessary to interim aid not only that report referred to in 3 be available, but that the progress looked for in 4 be on schedule so that presentation can be made to Congress along following lines:
10. Conference completed report correct in principle but inadequate in detail due to short period of time available to date for preparing and analyzing data of great complexity. Though report inadequate in this respect, satisfactory revision and supplementation is in process as evidenced by progress reports received as result of work described in 4. More time is necessary to complete this work, to screen the program in the light of U.S. availabilities, and to permit adequate Congressional review. This fact combined with unexpectedly rapid deterioration of economic conditions in several European countries makes it necessary to adopt an interim assistance program as a first element in the Marshall plan for aiding the recovery of the European economy. This first step can be taken in full confidence that completed program with full details will be available for U.S. action shortly.
11. Believed here that even moderate success for proposed plan of action largely dependent on U.K. attitude. Realize difficult character of decisions involved for U.K. in committing herself to European approach, and difficult internal problems of present government, partly deriving from its own makeup. Would appreciate yours and Douglas’ suggestions as to any further steps which might be taken to secure full U.K. cooperation along lines we think will be most conducive to success both in Europe and in U.S.
- Not printed.↩