Italian Desk files, lot 58D 357, “TRUST Forces—Trieste & Austria”
No. 139
Memorandum of Telephone
Conversation Between the Assistant Secretary of State for
European Affairs (Merchant) and Captain George Anderson of the
Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff
Mr. Merchant: George, on one of our favorite subjects involving turnover, our boss, in light of the general discussions he had over the weekend with some friends, is pretty well persuaded that the only way this can be worked out is to turn over the civil responsibility before the other half of it, so to speak. He is aware, of course, of how the fellow on the spot thinks and the general view with you people and he thinks that a decision has to be made at a top level to see whether or not the political desirability of moving in that one-two stage method warrants the acceptance of what may be some risk from your people’s point of view. He has asked to have a meeting with the top boss at 12:15 tomorrow which would come at the end of the regular meeting over there.
Captain Anderson: And Mr. W. would be there.
Mr. Merchant: He just wanted your boss and Mr. W. to know that he had asked for them and him to meet with the big boss to put this problem and let him hear the statement from your people of the difficulties and risks to be involved.
Captain Anderson: Has he informed Mr. W.?
Mr. Merchant: No, he hasn’t. I tried to get Frank Nash and couldn’t. I am calling you to forewarn your boss.
Captain Anderson: Thank you very, very much. In other words, he feels that the political considerations are overriding in this particular situation but wants to present them higher up in conjunction with Mr. W. and my boss.
Mr. Merchant: Exactly. That is his view. But he hasn’t heard in detail the reasons that are controlling to your boss.
Captain Anderson: As a matter of principle has anything of this nature ever been done before with either the United States’ or our country cousins’ forces? I was trying to think if there were any precedent.
Mr. Merchant: There is a semi-precedent it seems to me provided for in the contractual.1 Of course legally they are not in effect [Page 323] though in practice your people over there have so to speak turned over for practical purposes civil authority and have got reserve powers. There is a rough analogy there.
Captain Anderson: I was talking to Page Smith the other day and I said what happens if there are not military forces there on either side. In other words, just civil authority.
Mr. Merchant: I think it would be impossible to get the fellow on the other side to pull out.
Captain Anderson: That is just a thought. I will certainly advise the Admiral to be waiting word for that particular meeting.
Mr. Merchant: If you would. I gather it was left that the meeting will go on there tomorrow morning anyway and can be broken off at 12:15 in order for the limited group to take up this particular problem. My boss feels that before any experts meet with our cousins that there must be a decision on this point.
- Reference is to the German Contractual Agreement signed on May 26, 1952; see vol. vii, Part 1, pp. 111 ff.↩