124.556/8: Telegram
The Minister in Belgium (Whitlock) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 30—9:45 p. m.]
For the information of the Department. In conference reported in my long telegram filed today at The Hague,18 Baron von der Lancken and I put in writing a short statement in French which I agreed he might give to the press as follows: “The American Minister expressed surprise at the incident; he stated that he had sent his report to London for the information of the Ambassador and was not himself responsible for the publication. He added that he would report the matter to his Government when [which?] he was confident would find a satisfactory solution.” Baron von der Lancken has left for Germany and this morning an official poster appeared on the walls of Brussels regarding our conversation. It ends as follows: “The Minister of the U. S. has declared that the publication of the documents in question has greatly surprised him and that he would without delay inform his colleague in London and his Government of the differences existing between the real facts and the statement of them in the written report of the Belgian attorney.” The foregoing requires no comment from me.
- Supra.↩