694.001/5–250

Memorandum by the Director of the Office of Northeast Asian Affairs (Allison) to the Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs (Rusk)

confidential

Subject: Your conversation with General Burns.

Captain Murdaugh of the Defense Department telephoned this morning about your meeting with General Burns and said that it [Page 1186] had been the understanding in his office that they would receive a copy of the U.S. position paper on the Japanese Peace Treaty, which they had not received, and he wondered what they could tell the General prior to his talk with you as preparation for that talk. I informed Captain Murdaugh that to the best of my knowledge there was no position paper on the Japanese Peace Treaty at the present time and that while I had not talked to you and therefore did not know exactly what you had in mind, I assumed that you wanted to have a general discussion concerning the various matters at issue between our two Departments prior to the departure of the Secretary. I told Captain Murdaugh that I would inquire around and if I obtained any further information I would let him know.

I then telephoned Mr. Butterworth and reported what I had said and he suggested that I tell Captain Murdaugh, without using his name, that it was our understanding in the Department that the Secretary had informed General Bradley that when he went to London he would have to say something to Mr. Bevin and that, therefore, he wanted the Defense Department to think about what he might properly say with respect to security matters in the Japanese Peace Treaty. General Bradley had also been informed that in the opinion of the Department a possibility existed of Russian initiative with respect to a Japanese Peace Treaty and that the State Department needed to know the position of the Defense Department as to what action might usefully be taken should such Russian initiative eventuate. I passed this on to Captain Murdaugh, making clear that I had not talked to you and that I was only giving him this general information on my own in an effort to be helpful as I though it probable that these subjects might be brought up by you.