867n.6363/8: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Harvey)
661. Your telegram 862 October 27, 5 P.M.46 and despatch No. 596.47
Socony attitude toward British conditions stated in letter to Department of November 17, 1921. After you consult Thomas to whom copy of letter has been sent and in continuance of direct discussions with the Colonial Office, if Foreign Office consents as it has previously, you may state that it is the opinion of the Department that the question of the date when permission for development work can or will be granted does not seem at this time to require discussion. The requested examinations could apparently be made without prejudice to any such question. In view of your note to [Page 102] the Foreign Office of September 15, 1921, pursuant to the Department’s instruction of September 13, 1921, and since the examinations are to be without prejudice to the question of the validity of the company’s claims, the Department perceives no reason for the conditions which call for a report of the investigations to the Palestine authorities and for compliance with any instructions which may be given by such authorities.
The Department hopes that the accommodating spirit already shown by the British Government in this matter will lead without delay to such a specific interpretation or modification of the conditions as to make them acceptable to the Company and free from controversial features.
You may at your discretion and if deemed advisable address the Foreign Office formally along the above lines, carefully avoiding any statements which might be construed as a recognition or a denial of the British claim to a right to fix the conditions referred to.