Cablegram 18 LONDON, 20 January 1945, 5.20 p.m.
IMMEDIATE SECRET
Reference Commonwealth Government’s telegrams Nos. 12 and 13 [1] and New Zealand Government’s telegram No. 8. [2]
Employment Policy.
We agree in general with the terms of the summary in the Commonwealth Government’s telegram No. 13 which it is suggested should be used as the basis of a joint approach to the United States Government. In order, however, to give the other British Commonwealth Governments an opportunity to comment upon the proposals we should be glad if the joint approach could be deferred until the 29th January. We are communicating the proposals to the Governments of Canada and the Union of South Africa in a telegram, the text of which we are repeating to you in my telegram D. No. 125. A similar telegram is being sent to the Government of India. We are also asking the United Kingdom Ambassador in Washington to obtain from the Australian and New Zealand Ministers copies of the telegrams under reference and to hold himself in readiness to make a joint approach on the 29th January to the United States Government, unless he hears that any of the other British Commonwealth Governments feel difficulty in regard to the proposals.
We do not think the delay which we suggest will have any untoward results so far as the current meeting of the governing body of the International Labour Office is concerned. As explained in paragraph 4 of my immediately following telegram we do not intend to mention at this meeting the proposed approach to the United States Government. [3] There should, therefore, be no danger of the governing body being informed of the proposals before the United States Government. We assume that the Australian and New Zealand Governments will not make any announcements in the matter for the time being.
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1 Documents 9 and 10.
2 Dispatched 18 January. On file AA:A1066, ER45/2/3/2.
3 Paragraph 4 of cablegram D125, dispatched 20 January, (on the file cited in note 2) described the U.K. Govt’s intention to raise the manner and extent to which the Employment Committee of the I.L.O. should wish to be associated with ‘any intergovernmental employment conference that might be called’.
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[AA:A1066, ER45/2/3/2]