871.00/9–1246: Telegram
The Acting Representative in Rumania (Melbourne)28 to the Secretary of State
[Received September 13—3:17 p.m.]
870. In interview yesterday ranking Rumanian Communist, well known to Mission, stated preparations being made for elections second half October and that Interior Minister Georgescu, is charged by Communist Central Committee with responsibility for arrangements. To this end, Georgescu also has assumed control of Justice Ministry during absence of Patrascanu at Paris Conference. Patrascanu reportedly will not return to Rumania until election to avoid responsibility for bludgeoning country magistrates to obey Interior Minister’s election orders. Key Communists are supervising preparations in assigned areas. Bodnaras is handling Moldavia, Luca is charged with Transylvania, Pauker has oil field region and party wartime Secretary General Parvules of the Banat.
My informant anticipates no difficulty in Government forces gaining 85% of vote in view tactics to be followed. Interior Minister Georgescu told him that forced registration of all syndicate members in factories, offices, Government ministries and military barracks, which also includes their wives, parents, children of age to vote and servants, would enable Government to control more than 500,000 votes in [Page 633] Bucharest alone with only one-tenth of electorate voting in public polling places and not subject to direct pressure. Peasants would vote to retain their lands and in recalcitrant districts outright intimidation would be employed or ballot boxes changed and count falsified at each prefecture headquarters.
Rumania would be last country in Soviet sphere to have such elections and resultant Parliament would carry forward Communist program of nationalizing business, breaking opposition and abolishing monarchy. This program would not begin for several months following elections in order to lull temporarily local and foreign opinion. Following elections Red Army would continue to remain in area to support forthcoming Communist Party line of need to protect Soviet frontiers.
Repeated Secdel Paris 123.
[Telegram 3495, September 17, from Moscow, printed on page 145, transmitted the text of a Soviet Foreign Ministry note of the same date protesting the travel restrictions imposed on Soviet representatives on the Allied Commission for Italy and the Advisory Council for Italy and contrasting these restrictions with the alleged freedom of travel enjoyed by American representatives to the Allied Control Commissions in Rumania, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Instructions as to the reply to be made to the protest were contained in telegram 1806, October 10, to Moscow, repeated to Bucharest as No. 658, page 154.]
- Mr. Berry departed on August 28 for brief visits to Paris and Washington. Roy M. Melbourne assumed charge of the Mission during Berry’s absence.↩