Cablegram 42 LONDON, 3 March 1947, 4.40 p.m.
TOP SECRET
Your telegram 24th February No. 58.
Procedure for German Settlement Since the date of your telegram, the Foreign Secretary and I have met your High Commissioner and those of the other three Dominions concerned and have discussed the whole question. Mr. Beasley has also had separate discussions with Sir William Strang, the United Kingdom Deputy for Germany, and also with myself. I hope that these meetings, the substance of which Mr. Beasley will have reported to you, have helped to make clear the attitude of the United Kingdom Government.
2.As regards paragraph 3 of your telegram we are most anxious, as we have been all along, to work out a procedure which will allow the Dominions and other active belligerents to play their part in the German settlement. This desire has animated the United Kingdom Deputy throughout the London discussions and inspired our paper summarised in my telegram 8th February D.118. As explained in my telegram D.117 we thought that these proposals went as far towards meeting your views and those of the other Dominions as we could go, consistently with the ultimate responsibilities of the Four Powers and the prospect of gaining French and United States support. Our proposals provide both for an Information and Consultation Committee of which all active belligerent allies would be members and for a series of Committees of which some allies would in each case be members. They also provide for a conference of all active allied belligerents. The Soviet proposals on the other hand restrict full membership of Information and Consultation Committee to the Four Powers and would give restricted membership and functions to other committees. The French proposals also restrict membership of other committees to the Four Powers and states with a direct interest. Although the United States Deputy was prepared to agree to the Information and Consultation Committee, the United States proposal did not originally provide for this, and the United States have also reserved their position with regard to an allied conference. Our own proposals therefore went further than any of the other three in the provision for allied consultation. They were not in conflict with the Australian memorandum to the Deputies of 13th January and represented an earnest attempt on our part to meet the desire expressed in Australian representative’s original statement to Deputies that a more satisfactory procedure should be devised for association of Allies with the German settlement than with satellite peace treaties.
3. The extent of agreement and disagreement among Deputies at the end of the London discussions is shown in my telegram 28th February, D.No.195, which we trust will have clarified any points left doubtful by my telegram D.No.175. The bracketed passages proposed by the United Kingdom Deputy are evidence of efforts which we have made to secure proper Allied participation and consultation. United Kingdom delegation will continue these efforts at C.F.M. meeting in Moscow and are taking with them copy of your telegram under reply, so that they will be in no doubt about the importance which the Australian Government attach to matter.
4. In view of the New Zealand Government’s reference to your telegram in their telegram 1st March, No.38, this telegram is being repeated to them.
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