support if I go out on a limb again I will think very seriously about
doing so."
  At this point I asked the King if he had seen Mr. Acheson's state-
ment to the press about the Rumanian elections and he replied that
he had read it carefully. I then read him the pertinent sections of
Deptel 745, Nov. 26. He asked me to expand a bit on these statements
but I said in reading the telegram I had given him all the information
that I had, and therefore any interpretation he wanted to put upon
it should be his rather than mine. He then continued:
  "It should not come as a suggestion from me, but when your Govt
asks the British and the Soviets to review the Rumanian situation, why
don't you three agree to have the opening of Parliament postponed
until your talks are held?
  "Under the constitution, I am not a judge of the validity of elec-
tions. I can postpone the opening of an elected parliament for 30
days, and then it opens automatically. I must appear in Parliament
on the opening day and read a message from the throne. I can dis-
solve Parliament after it is assembled. I can't constitutionally do
more.
  "Tomniceanu (Liberal Minister of State) has suggested that I take
an injection to provoke fever so that I cannot be present at the opening
of Parliament and hence cannot be accused of sponsoring it. I am
not going to do this as it seems to me a cheap evasion. If your Govt
delivers a note to the Rumanian Govt before Parliament opens, I
shall ask Tatarescu (Minister of Foreign Affairs) to inquire of you
and the British and Soviets if you are satisfied with the Groza imple-
mentation of the Moscow agreement. If the Soviets say 'yes' and you
and the British 'no', I shall insist upon Susaikov telling me so himself.
If Susaikov acts as Vyshinski did in 1944, it seems to me, under the,
circumstances in which we in Rumania live today, I have no choice but
to stay by my people and that means opening the Parliament in per-
son. I repeat, however, that if you can say on behalf of your Govtw
that you are in a position to give me more than moral support, I may
very well act differently."
                                                            BERRY
871.00/11-3046
Memorandwm by the Deputy Director of the Offce of European Affairs
  (Hickerson) to Air. Horace J. Nickels, of the Division of Southern
  European Affairs
                                [WASMNGTON,] November 30, 1946.
  MR. NICKELS: I have just come from a meeting with Mr. Acheson
and Mr. Clayton.67 Both of them felt on balance that we should not
send the attached telegrams.68 Incidentally, Balfour 69 of the British
'"William L. Clayton, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs.
  "8The proposed telegrams to London and Moscow under reference are
not
printed. They outlined notes which would have been sent to the British Foreign
Office and Soviet Foreign Ministry. For substance of notes, see telegram
745,
November 26, to Bucharest, p. 657.
' John Balfour, British Minister.



667



RUMANIA