No. 137
Editorial Note
On September 12 the tripartite working group prepared a revised draft of the reply to the Soviet note of August 23, based on the United States draft (see telegram 1718, Document 135) and modified to take account of the British and French desiderata presented in the meetings on September 11 (see telegram 1436, supra). This text was sent to Washington on the same day and approved by the Department of State on September 13 subject to several nonsubstantive drafting changes. (Telegrams 1445 from London, September 12, and 1837 to London, September 13, 662.001/9–1252) Most of the changes suggested by the United States were accepted by the working group and, on referral, by Eden and Schuman. The resulting draft was transmitted to Washington on September 15 and approved by the Department of State the following day. (Telegrams 1511 from London, September 15, and 1527 to London, September 16, 662.001/9–1552 and 662A.00/9–1652) The text was also shown to Adenauer and Reuter, who approved it and, following a last minute deletion in paragraph 6 at the insistence of the French Cabinet, was delivered to the Soviet Foreign Ministry on September 23. Further documentation on the final revisions of the note is in file 662.001; the final text of the note is printed infra.