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12/13/53 Reel 6, Track 1, Page 1 MR. FEIS: the statement the four ministries are agreed, that the cummuniqué merely expressed the agreement of the four ministers and it changed the might nature of such obligation a.s would be contained in the joint communiqué. It doesn't say the four governments, just the four ministers. I wondered whether that was deliberate language or not? MR. ACHESON: Well, I think we were quite careful in all of these communiques to we use this phrase--the four ministers. As I recall it,/were quite careful not to say the word" governments". We were quite aware that there were other people around who might change things later on. MR. HARRIMAN: Well, that went through every communiqué. [confused]. It WB. S done in war time when Roosevelt, Chunchill and Stalin--it was the three heads of government that figured through this, because obviously the President couldn't take any commitments without some action on the part of THCMAND Congress. That was standard practice. used E ARCHIVES& ADMIN FEEN ENATIONAL RECORDS MR. JESSUP: Same as he did at Bermuda the other day. SCONTHANY 5 * MR. HARRIMAN: I didn't know Bermuda said anything. It said they met; found themselves MR. JESSUP in full agreement They found themselves in full agreement in the principle points in which they had directed their efforts in the at retainment of peace. MR. ACHESON: While we were in Paris, another very important series of conversations went on with the French, on which the financial field. And here again the jinks which always seemed to follow American attempts to work anything out with the French was in full operation. The French cabled us and said that their troubles, which Averell knew about during, by reason of his committee's work, involved these two questions: that they were going to have American aid in the extent of six hundred million