396.1 GE/4–1854
Memorandum of Conversations, by the Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs (Merchant)
Participants:
- The Secretary
- The Under Secretary
- Sir Roger Makins, British Ambassador
- Mr. Merchant—EUR
(Sir Roger Makins had called on the Acting Secretary this morning to show him a telegram from Mr. Eden which said in effect that the British would not participate in the scheduled meeting of Ten on Indochina called for noon on Tuesday with the Secretary,1 Mr. Eden’s telegram said that there had been no understanding on his part that [Page 1350] a working group would go forward at once on the subject of collective defense arrangements in Southeast Asia and that there had been no agreement between the Secretary and himself on the membership. The Acting Secretary expressed to the Ambassador his amazement at this message and the fact that from our records agreement on the first point was completely clear in London although apparently nothing had been decided definitively on the ultimate membership of the group.)
The British Ambassador called on the Secretary this afternoon at the latter’s request at his residence. After referring to Mr. Eden’s message and his own clear understanding of the points of agreement, the Secretary said that rather than looking to the past we should concentrate on what we do about the meeting of Ambassadors already called for Tuesday. He said he thought it undesirable to call it off since this would create considerable excitement. It seemed to him that there were two alternatives. One would be to broaden the list of participants by inviting the Ambassadors of Burma, Indonesia, Canada, and possibly even India. The character of the meeting could be changed somewhat to consist of a briefing by the Secretary of the development of his thinking and the results of his trip to Europe. The second alternative would be to break the nine Ambassadors up into two or three groups. This, however, would be almost impossible to do in light of his own schedule and if the briefings were to be shared even with the Under Secretary some question might arise as to why particular Ambassadors were in one group and not in the other.
The question of inviting the Dutch Ambassador was discussed and dismissed as likely to create further difficulties in the area on the “colonial” problem.
The suggestion was then made that the Tuesday meeting be transformed into a meeting of the Sixteen to whom would be added the Ambassadors of the three Associated States (this would cover the membership of the Nine originally invited for Tuesday.) At this meeting the Secretary could make a report and discuss the Geneva conference in general terms.
Sir Roger Makins thereupon promised to put up this latter suggestion to London and the alternative one of keeping the Tuesday meeting but broadening its membership. He promised to have an answer Monday morning.2
- For Eden’s recollection of the circumstances surrounding the meeting of Tuesday, Apr. 20, including an extract from his instructions to Makins, see Full Circle, pp. 108–111.↩
- In a letter of Apr. 19, Ambassador Makins informed Under Secretary Smith that Foreign Secretary Eden agreed to the proposal that the meeting of Apr. 20 consist of a discussion of the Geneva Conference in general terms by the Secretary of State. For the letter of Apr. 19 and the record of the meeting of Apr. 20, see vol. xvi, pp. 534 and 535.↩