Office of the Historian

311. Memorandum of Conversation0

US/MC/42
April 14, 1960, 2:15 p.m.

FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING

Washington, April 12–14, 1960

SUBJECT

  • Columbia River Negotiations

PARTICIPANTS

  • Howard C. Green, Secretary of State for External Affairs, Canada1
  • Norman A. Robertson, Under Secretary of State for External Affairs
  • Arnold Heeney, Canadian Ambassador to U.S.
  • Christian A. Herter, Secretary of State
  • Livingston T. Merchant, Under Secretary for Political Affairs
  • Foy D. Kohler, Assistant Secretary, EUR
  • Ivan B. White, Deputy Assistant Secretary, EUR
  • Delmar R. Carlson, BNA

Mr. White asked whether Senator Mansfield had mentioned the Columbia River problem during his conversation with Mr. Green earlier in the day.2 Mr. Green said that there had been a brief discussion of the Columbia, in which the Senator had exhibited an extremely fair and considerate attitude. Mr. Green had the impression that the Senator would not block ratification of a Columbia River treaty if Libby Dam were not included.

Mr. Green suggested that at the present time the above impression was academic because in the negotiations consideration was being given to including Libby Dam. He added that he had the impression that Columbia River negotiations were progressing well. Mr. White pointed out that although progress was certainly being made, there were still a number of problems to be resolved, including internal ones on the United States side.

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Mr. Green inquired whether there is a possibility of ratification of a treaty during the present session of Congress. Mr. White replied in the negative and observed that the drafting of a Columbia River treaty will be a major operation. He mentioned the possibility, which had been discussed with the Chairman of the Canadian Delegation, of devising a formula which could be announced earlier and then be followed by the production of a treaty by the fall. Mr. Green thought that this course of action would be extremely helpful in keeping the situation in British Columbia under control. Mr. Green added that the British Columbia Government had been cooperating fully with the Canadian Government on the matter of the Columbia but that the Canadian Government was not completely certain as to how long such cooperation would continue. He mentioned the consideration being given to Peace River development in British Columbia. Mr. White suggested that both rivers could ultimately be developed and phased into the power system in a coordinated way, but that initially development of the Upper Columbia would appear to meet Canadian power needs in a gradual and therefore more preferable way than the Peace River.

  1. Source: Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199. Confidential. Drafted by Carlson and approved in M on April 22 and in S on April 25. The meeting was held in Secretary Herter’s office. Eleven memoranda of conversation were prepared for this meeting; see Documents 312–315. The other memoranda cover the summit meeting (US/MC/40), Law of the Sea (US/MC/41), the U.K. missile program (US/MC/46), economic aid for underdeveloped areas (US/MC/48), disarmament (US/MC/49), and nuclear testing suspension (US/MC/50). All are in Department of State, Secretary’s Memoranda of Conversation: Lot 64 D 199.↩
  2. Green was in Washington for a meeting of various NATO Foreign Ministers in preparation for the forthcoming summit meeting between President Eisenhower and Chairman Khrushchev in May at Geneva.↩
  3. No record of this conversation has been found in Department of State files.↩