740.5/2–152: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Embassy in France 1
4526. For Bruce. From the Secretary. I am transmitting in my next fol tel2 text of reply to M. Schuman’s letter of Jan 29 contained urtel 4583, Jan 30, rptd London 1244, Bonn 353.3
I have considered carefully urtel 4645, Feb 1, rptd Bonn 357, London 1263,4 containing your reasons for postponing a formal reply to M. Schuman’s letter. I note your belief that a reply might freeze the Fr position. This, of course, is one of my deepest concerns. It seems to me, however, that unless our position is made clear to Fr Govt there may be even greater risk that exigencies of parliamentary debate will lead Schuman and others to make further statements which will cause irreparable damage. Also, is it not possible that letter wld strengthen Schuman’s position vis-à-vis other elements in FonOff and Cabinet. Our concern is that if steps are not taken immediately the situation will hopelessly drift and make impossible accomplishment in the scheduled London and Lisbon conferences. I believe you will [Page 19] have seen McCloy’s Jan 30 from Munich5 and Spofford’s Depto 9226 which confirm my impressions of this.
Request, therefore, that unless you see over-riding reasons for withholding my reply, you deliver copy to Schuman and also see that Eden, if he is still in Paris, receives his copy.
In presenting ltr you shld, if the occasion seems appropriate, suggest orally in connection with the para on the Saar that any action Fr Govt cld take to liberalize the law in the Saar concerning the formation of political parties wld be helpful in ameliorating the situation. In connection with the possible quadripartite declaration on a final settlement of the Saar problem, you shld inform M. Schuman that you are prepared to discuss the text of such a declaration immediately. If Schuman can give an affirmative response to this suggestion, the drafting might be centered in Paris. The Germans cld be consulted a little later. In our view the declaration, to be helpful to Chancellor Adenauer for the Bundestag debate on Feb 7–8, shld be available for his use by that time. In view of the short time this gives us, the declaration wld necessarily have to avoid dealing with the substance of such a solution, and in our view cld be confined to a very short statement along the lines of what we have said in our message.
London for Gifford. Request you deliver copy of letter to Eden or in his absence to FonOff, upon receipt of word from Bruce.
- This telegram, which was jointly drafted by Byroade (GER) and Bonbright (EUR) and which Bonbright signed for the Secretary, was repeated for information to London (for Gifford and Spofford) and to Bonn (for McCloy).↩
- Telegram 4527, Feb. 2, to Paris, transmitting the proposed text of Acheson’s reply to Schuman, is not printed. For the text of Acheson’s letter to Schuman delivered on Feb. 4, see infra. Differences between the final text and the text contained in telegram 4527 are indicated in footnotes 3 and 4, infra.↩
- The referenced telegram is not printed; for the text of Schuman’s message, see p. 7.↩
- Ante, p. 12.↩
- Not printed, but see telegram 1385, Feb. 1, from Bonn, p. 15.↩
- Dated Feb. 1, p. 13.↩