I think I should make it clear in regard to the proposal that we should appoint Kirkwood as Minister to Warsaw and Macdonnell as Minister to Prague, that this arises out of the undesirability of retaining, indefinitely, missions in two such irnportant countries under Chargés d'Affaires.¹⁵ That is a more important consideration, I think than the particular persons involved. Both the Czech Government and the Polish Government are a little restive at our inability to appoint full heads of missions. If it is decided that, in principle, this should be done, then the question arises as to whom should be appointed. I thought that it would be more economical, simpler and more appropriate to promote the men on the spot, though I would like to emphasize that this does not mean any promotion for them in the grades of our Service. In other words, they retain exactly the same grade that they had before, and they would be required, if moved back to Ottawa, to do Departmental work in exactly the same way as other officers of their grade do. I think that it is useful to establish this principle, that senior officers of the Department can become heads of missions, and heads of missions can be moved back to the Department as heads of Division, something that we have not yet done.

As for Mr. Kirkwood, he is one of the most senior men in our Service, having joined it in 1928, and he is, I think, well qualified to be Minister to Poland. One advantage is that he is a bachelor, and Warsaw is not a comfortable place for a wife and family, in view of the difficulties of accommodation, etc. However, if it is felt that Mr. Kirkwood should not be promoted, we could attempt to secure someone else, and Mr. Kirkwood could be made available for another post, possibly as High Commissioner in Pakistan. In any event, I do not think it is necessary to have a Minister and a Counsellor in Warsaw.

As for Mr. Macdonnell in Prague, he has not been in the Service as long as Mr. Kirkwood, but is a very experienced Foreign Service Officer and one of our most intelligent. He has already done very good work indeed at Prague in establishing our Legation there, and would, I feel certain, be a successful Minister. However, there again, if it is not considered desirable to make him Minister at Prague, we could transfer him to some other post and appoint a new Minister. What I am particularly interested in is that these posts should not remain indefinitely without Ministers.

LB. PEARSON

¹⁵Note marginale/Marginal note:
Council has agreed. Feb[ruary] 12/1948. L.S. St. L[aurent] Voir aussi le document 12./See also Document 12.