Diarmuid O'Hegarty to George Gavan Duffy (Paris)
(P.H. 4)

A Chara,
I received your despatch no.7 dated 6^th inst. on the 8^th inst. Sean T's despatch no. 7 came this morning, and I will reply to it as soon as possible. ¹

We heard a few days ago that E.[rskine] C.[hilders] arrived. I just heard this morning that my Minute no. 3 was delayed for a few days in London owing to the messenger from here to London having delayed unduly in handing it to our representative there.

French Government.

We note your views regarding the danger that any Commission set up by Clemenceau would be subject to English domination, and the Cabinet agrees that in the circumstances it would be most unwise to press Monsieur Clemenceau to have a tribunal set up. They also ask me to convey to you that if any communication is received from M. Clemenceau in connection with our letter of 26^th May, which was presented by you, covering a copy of 'Ireland's Case', no reply is to be made until the Ministry have had an opportunity of considering such communication, and advising you as to the terms of the reply. The Ministry fully appreciate the seriousness of this matter.

Mrs. Chartres²

The Ministry approves of your action in handing over £100 in addition to her expenses, as a contribution towards covering her losses through being engaged on our work and being thus prevented from carrying on her usual avocation. The amount is regarded as quite reasonable, and we feel that the work she has done well merits this recognition. I have just noticed Sean T's suggestion regarding the form a present from Dublin should take, and will go into it more fully when I am writing in the course of a day or two.

French Propaganda

I am making arrangements to have the books sent to Monsieur Goblet's publisher, and we hope that his articles will be hastened thereby.

The Ministry is of opinion that publication of his book in English would not be of very great value to us, as after all, it only represents matters from a Frenchman's point of view, and it does not contain any new matter as far as Home Propaganda is concerned. They further think that it would be very inadvisable that your name should appear on the English Translation as this would have the appearance of giving it an official imprimatur which its contents would hardly justify.

Messages

We have not used the system to which you refer so far as we have hitherto been able to get messengers fairly readily. We are, however, bearing the possibilities of this method of communication in mind and will use it if necessary. I will, of course, always send you an advice when this method is being used.

American Correspondents

The Ministry are prepared to agree to Mr. Murphy's³ suggestion that a small number of select American Journalists together with representatives of the French and Italian Press should be invited to visit Ireland and see for themselves the conditions obtaining here. In this connection we observe that Mr. Murphy says that the matter of Finances in connection with this trip would be one upon which he would look with favour in the American interest. We hope this means that he will bear the expenses of the journey as it will be somewhat costly, and will probably run into £500 or £600.

You will realise the desirability of selecting these gentlemen carefully as it would not do to invite gentlemen here at our expense who could be got at by our friend the enemy.

American Embassy

Mr. Murphy's suggestion in this connection is receiving consideration and we will let you know our definite decision shortly. His Memorandum on the subject of propaganda dealing with the crushing of Irish Trade has been handed over to our Propaganda Department who will deal with the matter.

I am writing this letter in haste as the messenger is waiting and consequently it is neither as complete nor as carefully worded as I would wish. Please excuse any grammatical errors or such other small points as it may contain. When writing to Sean T. I shall be able to enlarge upon certain other matters touched on herein.