Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952–1954, China and Japan, Volume XIV, Part 2

694.001/4–1052

No. 553
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Secretary of State

confidential

[Washington,] April 10, 1952.

Meeting With the President

Item 2. Japanese Peace Treaty

I went over with the President the material contained in Mr. Allison’s memorandum of April 10.¹ The President agreed that the action taken by Congress extending emergency powers until June 1 was adequate for our present purposes. He authorized us to proceed in accordance with Mr. Allison’s memorandum in concert with the Department of Defense. He said that he would sign the authorization to deposit the ratification when it reached him. He understands that on Monday or Tuesday² we will give the ten-day notice in the event that the requisite number of ratifications have been deposited so that he may bring the treaty into effect on the 24th or 25th of April.³

He also authorizes us to send over the nomination of Mr. Robert Murphy as Ambassador to Japan.

1. Supra.
2. Apr. 14–15.
3. President Truman signed the four Pacific treaties on Apr. 15, and his signature constituted U.S. ratification of each of them. For the President’s statement released to the press that same day, see Department of State Bulletin, Apr. 28, 1952, p. 658. In a footnote to this text the Department explained that ratifications of the Japanese Peace Treaty had hitherto been deposited by four of the countries named in Article 23, including Japan, and that subject to the necessary and expected prior deposit of at least two more, the United States planned to deposit its own ratification on Apr. 28, thereby bringing the treaty into effect among all those countries whose ratifications had by then been deposited.