Letter from Patrick McGilligan to Lord Passfield (London)

Dear Lord Passfield

I should like to refer you to your official despatch, No. 362, confidential of the 26th July sending me copies of the letters exchanged between the Ambassador in Paris¹ and Monsieur Briand in connection with Count O'Kelly's agrément.

In this country we have always attached the very greatest importance to avoiding all possibility of confusing the source of authority when the Foreign Office is acting as the channel of communication with foreign Governments on behalf of our Government. We have frequently pointed out to the Dominions Office definite misapprehensions which have been caused by the use of confusing forms and we have been obliged to make public statements to correct the impression that our Government was subordinate to the Foreign Office or that the Foreign Office could speak for us without ad hoc authorisation.

You will see from my despatch, No. 273, of the 14th August² in reply to your despatch referred to that the Foreign Office Officials have again been seriously at fault. The second paragraph of the superfluous letter left only one interpretation possible to the French Government. They were bound to conclude that the advising authority was His Majesty's Government in Great Britain, not His Majesty's Government in the Irish Free State, and M. Briand's reference to the 'désir du Gouvernement royal de créer une Légation de l'État Libre d'Irlande?à Paris' and to 'son intention d'acrediter en qualité; d'Envoyé Extraordinaire et Ministre Plénipotentiaire de cet État auprés de M. le Président de la Republique M. le Comte Gerald O'Kelly, etc' is not to be wondered at. The correction of this deplorable error is a fundamental necessity. We cannot allow the French Government to think that the independence of and coequality of the Members of the British Commonwealth is mere make-believe. Nor could we, in any case, allow an official letter of this character to go on to the archives of any government. I fear very much that there are officials in the Foreign Office who have completely failed to understand the constitutional position of the Members of the Commonwealth and our good relations with each other are liable to be frequently troubled so long as they are allowed to deal with matters affecting the Dominions without the guidance of the officials in the Dominions Office.

I hope that you will see that the two letters in question are immediately withdrawn. It would not be very pleasant to have to drag this matter before the public.

I am looking forward to meeting you at the Experts Conference where we have so many things of vital interest to the future of the Commonwealth to discuss.