611.4731/194: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Consul General at Sydney (Moffat)
Your October 12, 7 p.m. We have conveyed to Ambassador Bingham on October 16 the complete sense of the note which we propose to send to the government of Australia, Final decision to send [Page 772] through you was reached after consideration of last paragraph of your October 12, 7 p.m., and other possibilities. The Ambassador was instructed to call upon Mr. Eden to inform him of the sense of the note we propose to send, and to urge that the British Government join us in an appeal to Australia to alter its policy. Mr. Bingham’s telegram of October 2630 indicated that he found Mr. Eden uninformed on this subject but that Eden promised to take up the matter promptly with the expectation of being able to give a reply within the next 2 or 3 days. Failing receipt of that reply and in view of your October 27, 11 a.m., we believe we should go ahead with delivery of the note and have you say that we are handing it to the press. The note would be as in Department’s October 10, noon, with modifications exactly as suggested in your October 12, 7 p.m.
For your information, we do not propose to publish any other communication, since the present one contains sufficient recapitulation of the contents of past communications.
Please telegraph immediately whether you perceive any serious objection to this procedure, chiefly as to timeliness and utility of publicity. You will, of course, be informed promptly of Eden’s reply when it is received, but we believe his promise to help need not necessarily be awaited before taking independent steps.
- Not printed.↩