551.A1/9
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Davis) to the Secretary of
State
London, April 19,
1920.
[Received May 1.]
No. 2686
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my
telegram No. 627 of April 16th,65 transmitting an invitation from the Council of
the League of Nations to the United States Government to be
represented or associated in the coming International Conference to
study financial conditions. The full text of the invitation is
transmitted herewith.66
I have [etc.]
[Enclosure 1]
The Council of the League
of Nations to the Government of
the United States
The Council of the League of Nations begs to inform the American
Government of the following resolution adopted during the
meetings of the Council held in London, February llth–13th,
1920.
[Page 92]
- Article I.—The League of Nations shall convene an
International Conference with a view to studying the
financial crisis and to look for the means of remedying it
and of mitigating the dangerous consequences arising from
it.
- Article II.—A Commission composed of Members of the
Council, nominated by the President, is instructed to summon
the States chiefly concerned to this Conference, and to
convene it at the earliest possible date.
This Conference will be held at Brussels about the end of May,
1920.
The Council invites the following countries to send delegates to
this Conference:—67
- Argentine Republic,
- Australia,
- Belgium,
- Brazil,
- Canada,
- Chile,
- Czecho-Slovakia,
- Denmark,
- France,
- Greece,
- Holland,
- India,
- Italy,
- Japan,
- New Zealand,
- Norway,
- Poland,
- Portugal,
- Roumania,
- Serb-Croat-Slovene State,
- South Africa,
- Spain,
- Sweden,
- Switzerland,
- United Kingdom.
Other States, Members of the League, will be invited to send to
the Council, as soon as possible, any proposals which they would
like to have considered by the Conference.
The Council of the League is informing the United States
Government of the proposed Conference, and is inviting them to
send representatives to the Conference or to be associated with
the work of the Conference.
The Council may invite States not included in the above list to
communicate to the Conference full information regarding their
financial and economic situation, and, if necessary, it will
decide under what conditions these States may be heard.
The Council therefore has the honour to invite the American
Government to send to the Conference not more than three
delegates, conversant with public finance and banking as well as
with general economic questions. The Council requests that the
names of these delegates may be notified to the
Secretary-General of the League of Nations.
[Page 93]
[Enclosure 2]
The Council of the League
of Nations to the Government of
the United States
[London,] 15 April, 1920.
The Secretary-General of the League of Nations is instructed by
the Council of the League of Nations to communicate to the
United States Government the text of an invitation to an
International Financial Conference, which the Council is
addressing to the States, Members of the League of Nations.
The world is at this moment in a condition of economic and
financial disorder, with results which are, at present, so
serious and may in the future become so dangerous, that the
League of Nations cannot ignore them without failing in its most
essential duties.
In taking the initiative of convening a Financial Conference to
meet at Brussels within the next few weeks, the Council of the
League fully realises the difficulty of the problem under
consideration, and it does not ask the Conference for a complete
solution. It desires that the present situation should be
discussed from an international point of view; and the Delegates
meeting at Brussels will be invited to conduct the debate on a
higher plane than the mere consideration of the special problems
and interests of each State.
The purpose of the Conference is not to recast the economic
system of the world, but to obtain suggestions for its
improvement by the impartial examination of the present
situation and the formulation of practical conclusions by the
best qualified experts in each country.
Recognising the economic and financial importance of the United
States, the Council of the League of Nations expresses the
earnest hope that the United States Government will wish to
avail itself of the opportunity of the United States being
represented at the Conference, or of being associated with its
work.