762.022/4–1453
No. 181
Memorandum of Conversation, by the
Director of the Office of German Political Affairs (Morris)
Subject: The Saar
- Participants: James B. Conant, U.S. High Commissioner for Germany
- Brewster H. Morris, GPA
In connection with the final White House session with Adenauer, April 9, 1953, there was again a short restricted meeting in the President’s private office, consisting of the President, Mr. Dulles, Mr. Conant, the Chancellor and Hallstein.1 This was devoted [Page 447] mainly to a discussion of the notes on cultural exchanges, and to the Saar.
The discussion of the latter, according to Mr. Conant, was along the same lines as during the previous Adenauer talks, i.e., on April 7 and 8, except that the Chancellor also stated specifically that, while anxious to go just as far as he could in the coming Saar negotiations, he could not “give away the Saar” to the French in a German election year as “payment for their ratification of the EDC”. There was no comment from the U.S. side to this point.
After this meeting, the Secretary told Mr. Conant there was no need for him to draft a regular report on this restricted meeting. Hence this brief note for the GPA Saar file.
- Presumably this restricted meeting took place before the meeting described in Riddleberger’s memorandum, infra.↩