860j.01/37: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Great Britain (Davis)
5792. Following message has been received from American Mission Paris as their number 3581 of August 8th:
“As the embarkation of British troops from Batum begins August 15th and their withdrawal will probably be followed by anarchy and massacres in Armenia, it is suggested that if you appealed through Ambassador Davis to Curzon or Lloyd George for postponement of this withdrawal for at least one month, such request might be granted. Prompt action is necessary since a telegram to Batum revoking order for embarkation, must be August 13 from London. Officials in British Delegation here, who regard withdrawal as a calamity, have confidentially intimated that an American appeal for postponement is the only thing capable of altering the British decision to withdraw on August 15th.”
You are instructed to take this matter up with the Foreign Office informally and orally and make such representations as seem proper to you under the circumstances without however, pressing the matter in any way. The last sentence of the above ie, of course, only for your confidential information. Inform the Department and Mission as to the extent of the representations which you make to the Foreign Office and the reply which the Foreign Office makes.