DEPARTMENT OF STATE Memorandum of Conversation
Date: May 14, 1951
Subject: Conversation with Canadian Ambassador
Participants: Hume Wrong, Canadian Ambassador Secretary Mr. Haselton, BNA
Copies to: EUR (2) BNA-Mr. Raynor Embassy Ottawa
The Canadian Ambassador called by appointment at 2:30 today. He opened the conversation by saying that his is leaving tomorrow for a short visit to Ottawa and merely wished to see if there were any thoughts or messages which I might like him to convey to Mr. Pearson and other officials in Ottawa. I said I had nothing particularly in mind but asked that my personal regards be given to Mr. Pearson.
The current Congressional hearings on the MacArthur case were discussed briefly. Ambassador Wrong said he felt that one of the most unfortunate results of the hearings would be a distinct loss of flexibility in the future conduct of our foreign affairs stemming from the many statements on foreign policy which those testifying are being called upon to make during the hearings. I agreed that this is a regrettable feature of the hearings.
In a brief discussion of two or three aspects of U.S. Far Eastern policy, I indicated that no change in our present position is to be expected.
Ambassador Wrong raised the subject of Mr. Pearson's recent speech, saying that he had received a long letter from Mr. Pearson in which the latter stated that, had he known that General MacArthur was being relieved of his office, he would not have made some of the statements on Canadian-U.S. relations which were actually included in his speech.
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The Ambassador said he intended to discuss the St. Lawrence problem in Ottawa. There is a possibility, he said, that a "high-level approach" may be made to the Department on this subject before long. The Prime Minister has been under considerable domestic pressure to make a statement, such as has already been made by a number of public figures in Canada, to the effect that Canada will go ahead with the Seaway project on its own if favorable U.S. action is not taken during the present session of Congress. The approach to which the Ambassador referred would apparently involve a suggestion that the power and seaway features of the project to be separated; that Ontario and New York be authorized to proceed jointly on the power part of the project; and that Canada, alone, undertake the Seaway within its own territorial waters, which could be done, the Ambassador said, at a cost of only about $30 million more than has been estimated for the joint project. The Ambassador said his position up to this time has been that the Prime Minister should defer a public statement on the subject as long as possible-at least until the House Public Works Committee has made its position clear. I confirmed that in my opinion a statement now by the Prime Minister would not be helpful and might tend to complicate the situation rather than to clarify it.
EUR:BNA:NSHaselton:rkh