840.50 Recovery/9–1247: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Douglas) to the Secretary of State
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4950. For the Secretary from Douglas. At meeting with Bevin he orally asked me to transmit to you the following message:
“As Chairman of the Paris Conference, I am much disturbed by the public consequences of the discussions in Paris between the Executive Committee and United States representatives, leading to the postponement of the report pending the consideration of certain points which the United States Government have raised. I fully understand and appreciate the intentions of the United States Government in making this intervention, but the impression has been created that the work of the conference has been unsatisfactory and is now having to be done again under American pressure. This is, of course, not the case: but if the impression is allowed to persist it will do untold harm in the European countries and in the United Kingdom. It will provide an opportunity for critics, in Europe and elsewhere, to undermine the progress which the conference has been able to achieve. It may prejudice the final outcome of the conference. This unfortunate result appears to be out of proportion to the advantages which will doubtless flow from the improvement of the report on the points raised by the United States Government.
[Page 429]“There is little I can do here to put this right. The impression can only be corrected from Washington. I therefore hope very much that you may find it possible, by some reassuring statement, to restore the confidence, which has now been shaken, in the work and outcome of the conference and the United States attitude towards it.
“Secondly, I earnestly hope that the United States Government, having made its views known, will not [now] allow the Conference to work upon them and complete its report in an atmosphere of calm and without any feeling of external pressure.”
I understand what he means is that the accounts in the press have produced the impression of the situation which he describes and that this public impression can be best rectified by a statement from you in Washington.
Moreover, I do not understand that the last paragraph of this message is intended to imply that during the remaining ten days of this phase of the conference “friendly assistance” should be withdrawn.