Our 255. [1] The United Kingdom representatives have now had
exploratory discussions at a low level with a view to ascertaining
American objectives for Pacific bases.

The United States representatives were Hickerson (State
Department) Captain Dennison (Navy), Colonel Tait (Army) and
Series, special assistant to the Secretary of State. The United
Kingdom representatives were Michael Wright, Commander Jones,
Commodore Clark, Colonel Wilson, Major Munro, Maude and Rogers of
the Colonial Office, Commodore Finlay, Commander Frewin and
Cockram.

The Americans expressed a desire for complete secrecy on the
ground that any leakages might arouse national feelings which
might militate against agreement. United Kingdom delegates,
however, stressed the possibility of a piecemeal approach, and
made it clear that they would keep the Dominions continuously
informed.

The Americans stated that they did not wish to discuss questions
of sovereignty and proceeded to outline their proposals for the
use of bases. They distinguished two classes of islands.

(1) Those in which exclusive use was desired (Canton, Christmas
and Funafuti).

(2) Those in which they would be satisfied with joint use, Tulagi,
Viti Levu, Espiritu Santo, Tarawa.

The United Kingdom can see no practical difference between the
granting of exclusive use in cases mentioned and the transfer of
sovereignty and are regarding proposals as such.

Proposals for joint are similar to those made to New Zealand in
the case of Western Samoa (our telegram 273 [2]) and in respect of
Manus our telegram 314 [3] with the exception that in the case of
Espiritu Santo, France would also be included.

Hickerson gave definite assurances that the provision in section 2
of annex A (refer our 273) 'that facilities shall not be made
available to the armed forces of another Government without the
consent of (e.g. New Zealand) and the United States' would permit
the use of bases by other British Commonwealth countries if the
United States was not at war. The British are endeavouring to
obtain further confirmation on this point.

It appears that the Americans are particularly anxious to secure
early agreement on Pacific bases for two reasons.

(1) The State Department realizes that they will lose a bargaining
point when the United Kingdom Loan is approved. They are
suggesting that it will assist the passage of the loan agreement,
especially in the House of Representatives, if it can be shown
that the United Kingdom is prepared to make a bargain on bases.

(2) The Navy Department are anxious for agreement because of the
provision requiring, e.g. the New Zealand Government to maintain
existing military installations at its own expense. This would
assist the Navy in securing its appropriation.

The United Kingdom representatives here state they see many
advantages in the joint use of bases which they consider would
give the United States Navy a stake in the South-west Pacific. On
the other hand, they are concerned at the request for exclusive
use of Canton, Christmas and Funafuti and see many difficulties in
reconciling the American proposal with the trusteeship
arrangements and commitments to U.N.O. They state that, for these
reasons, they have simply listened to the United States proposals
and have attempted to clarify them, without themselves expressing
any views. I understand, however, that [at] a meeting to-day
(Tuesday) the United Kingdom representatives intend to test the
United States reaction to suggestion that joint use of bases might
be achieved by an informal understanding supplemented by the
formal agreement giving the United States the right to use the
bases for civil aviation purposes. It should be clearly understood
that this is a low level feeler only and not an official United
Kingdom proposal.