867N.01/2–1547
Memorandum of Telephone Conversation, by the Under Secretary of State (Acheson)
I called Sir John Balfour at the British Embassy, after trying to telephone the Ambassador and finding he was away. I told Sir John that Mr. Henderson and I had been talking about the Palestine situation this morning and that it seemed to us from the cables that we had received that the London discussions had come to an impasse; that the [Page 1050] British, intention to lay the whole thing before the United Nations without any recommendation raised the question of what to do about immigration in the meantime. The cables seemed to indicate that the British Cabinet would have the question put to them and that the British idea prevailing now was that the present arrangement of 1,500 visas monthly would be maintained.
I said that the President and the Secretary of State were both out of town and that the views I wanted to express to him were those of Mr. Henderson and myself, but I thought would be shared by the Prsident and the Secretary.
We hoped that the British would consider the question of immigration very carefully. Our judgment was that if the rate were doubled, so that 3,000 visas a month would be available, this would not make the situation any more difficult and might make it less. I pointed out that I did not believe the Arabs would be much more excited by 3,000 visas than by 1,500. It seemed to me that the possible advantage that would arise from an increase to 3,000 would be to make the Arabs more ready to look to solutions for the problem since, as long as the situation seemed to be stalled, the Arabs were pleased and willing to maintain the status quo. Also with reference to the Jewish side of the question I thought this would be a helpful solution. I said I had had a talk with Rabbi Silver yesterday who seemed to me to be subdued and rather frightened by the impasse that has been produced. If it could be said that the British have done everything they could to negotiate a solution but without success; that they are now laying the matter before the United Nations and in the interim they are making the effort—by raising the visas to 3,000—to take care of the terrible immediate situation in Europe, this would be a very great help to us domestically. I pointed out that so far we have refused to make any statements or to send any notes to the British, pointing to Secretary Marshall’s specific statement that he did not intend to say anything that would rock the boat, but it seemed to me that if the situation has blown up we are going to be under great pressure to make a statement of some sort.
I said that I had given him these views without in any way wanting to embarrass him but simply to let him know our concern about the situation now before a final decision is made.
Sir John said that he understood completely our domestic difficulty and believed that the suggestion was a good one and would not add to their difficulties but on the other hand very probably would be helpful. He said he was most grateful for the suggestion and would pass it on immediately.