Preparations for the Summit Conference 237



    Secretary Herter
    Under Secretary C. Douglas Dillon
    Under Secretary Livingston T. Merchant
    Ambassador Walter C. Dowling

    [Here follows discussion of U.S.-USSR economic strength. For text,
see Document 257.1
    The Secretary then changed the subject by saying that there was one
matter which the President had discussed alone with the Chancellor the
day before' on which he wished to satisfy himself that there was a com-
mon understanding between us. He said that the Chancellor would re-
call that the President had spoken to him about the desirability of
promptly and seriously examining, with a view to presentation to the
Soviets, a proposal for an inspection zone in Europe which would in-
clude but not be confined to Germany, linked with the offer of an inspec-
tion zone covering Alaska and a part of eastern Siberia. The Secretary
went on to emphasize that this would not be a disarmament measure
but that it would serve the purpose of gaining experience with inspec-
tion methods and probing the extent of Soviet good faith.
    The Chancellor reacted violently and said that in his conversation
with the President there had been no mention whatsoever of an inspec-
tion zone in Europe. The only talk had been concerning one in Siberia
and Alaska which he thought would be useful as a test of Soviet inten-
tions and if accomplished might be valuable by reason of the great capa-
bility of modern cameras from the air.
    The Secretary said that there must be some confusion and asked
Mr. Merchant to report what the President had told him of his talk with
the Chancellor immediately after the White House luncheon. The Chan-
cellor continued to deny that in his recollection the President had ever
mentioned Europe or a zone affecting Germany. He made clear that
such a proposal was objectionable to him. The Secretary concluded this
phase of the conversation by reiterating that a misunderstanding obvi-
ously existed and suggesting that the Four-Power Working Group
might be charged with an examination of these ideas. The Chancellor
neither agreed nor disagreed with this suggestion.
    At this point the question of self-determination came up in the con-
text of the Chancellor's Press Club proposal for a plebiscite in West Ber-
lin prior to the Summit. 2 The Secretary said that we should consider this
matter by looking further ahead to the wider application of self-


    1 See Document 90.
    2 For text of Adenauer's address to the National Press Club at 2 p.m.
on March 16,
during which he proposed a plebiscite for West Berlin to answer the question
of whether
the Berliners wanted their present status changed, see Dokumente, Band 4,
1960, Erster
Halbband, pp. 515-518.