Foreign Relations of the United States, 1947, Eastern Europe; The Soviet Union, Volume IV

033.1100/9–1047

The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Smith) to the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union (Malik)¹

Moscow, September 22, 1947.

My Dear Mr. Malik: I have received your letter dated September 19² in which you state, with reference to my request of September 13³ for the issuance of Soviet entry visas to a group of United States Government officials, that “since the Soviet Union is not among the countries which can be subjected to an investigation on the part of American Senators, the trip of the above-mentioned group to the Soviet Union is not considered expedient”.

I hasten to assure you that this group never has, or could have had such intention. The fact is that the Senators in question are all members of the Appropriations Committee of the United States Senate; Mr. Peurifoy is the Assistant Secretary of State in charge of administrative matters; and the other members are aides and assistants of the group. I have been informed that the official purpose of their proposed visit is to inspect the work of this Embassy. However, I should like to add, in a personal way, that since the group is much larger than would be required to make a routine inspection of the Embassy’s work and needs, it is obvious that many of its members are motivated by the desire to see the capital of the Soviet Union during their current travels in Europe. This seems wholly natural and understandable to me, and certainly the brief period of the proposed visit makes it very evident that the group does not have any other intentions.

My own opinion is that the visit would be in the interest of good relations between our two countries, and I believe that, after the foregoing explanation, you may agree with me. If so, I would be grateful if you would reconsider the decision communicated in your letter of September 19.⁴

I am, my dear Mr. Malik,

Sincerely yours,

W. B. Smith

1. Enclosed in despatch No. 1645 from Moscow on September 22, not printed.
2. Not printed.
3. Not printed. By this letter the Ambassador had carried out instructions received in telegram 1711 from the Department on September 11, 7 p. m., not printed, to request visas for 11 Senators of the Senate Appropriations Committee headed by Chairman Styles Bridges of New Hampshire; for Assistant Secretary of State for Administration John E. Peurifoy; and for 4 other governmental officials who wished to visit Moscow “for approximately 4 days on an inspection trip in connection with the work of this Embassy.” (033.1100/9–1047)
4. The reply from Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Yakov Alexandrovich Malik dated September 26 merely reiterated that “the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as before maintains the point of view set forth in my letter to you of September 19.” This rejection was forwarded to the Department in despatch 1661 from Moscow on September 27. (033.1100/9–1047) A statement by Acting Secretary of State Robert A. Lovett was released to the press on October 1 regarding this refusal (Department of State Bulletin, October 12, 1947, p. 744).