Office of the Historian

800.014 Antarctic/3–2548: Telegram

The Secretary of State to the Embassy in the United Kingdom 1

secret
Washington, March 25, 1948—7 p. m.

1059. As result talks with Brit Emb this week,2 we decided, pending further consideration of subject, to postpone inquiry to other interested Govts as to their willingness to enter diplomatic discussion on possibility of Antarctic solution. Brit Emb on its side agreed Brit would not now issue invitation to UK US Chile Argentine round table on area of Brit Antarctic claims.3 We feel we could not assume responsibility in such round table to participate in discussing division of sovereignties. If it dealt with Antarctic Continent as distinct from islands north of Palmer Peninsula all eight interested countries should be included and whole area considered. We would not be averse to Brit Arg Chilean settlement of overlapping claims in islands on mutually satisfactory basis which would safeguard essential points of Brit interest. We informed Brit we do not object their proposal tell Arg Chile informally Brit will confer with them on Antarctic Islands after Bogotá if they do not press matter at Bogotá.4

Marshall
  1. The text of this telegram was subsequently transmitted to the Embassy in Santiago in telegram 100, March 26, and to the Embassy in Buenos Aires in airgram A–160, March 29, neither printed (800.014 Antarctic/3–2648 and 800.014 Antarctic/3–2948).↩
  2. Participating in the talks were Llewellyn E. Thompson, Deputy Director, Office of European Affairs, Robert F. Woodward, Deputy Director, Office of American Republic Affairs, Benjamin M. Hulley, Acting Chief, Division of Northern European Affairs, Caspar D. Green of the Division of Northern European Affairs, and Robert H. Hadow, Counselor of the British Embassy.↩
  3. The suggestion for a four-power round-table discussion of the conflicting claims to sovereignty in the Falkland Island Dependencies was made in an aide-mémoire of March 17 from the British Embassy to the Department of State, not printed. The suggestion was renewed in a letter of March 24 from Ambassador Inverchapel to Lewis W. Douglas, Ambassador to the United Kingdom, then in Washington for consultation, not printed.↩
  4. The proposal under reference was made by Hadow A week later Hadow informed officers of the Department of State that he had not yet received any indication that the Foreign Office was prepared to make proposals to the Argentine and Chilean Governments.↩