462.00 R 29/337
The British Ambassador (Geddes) to the Secretary of
State
Washington, September 13,
1920.
My Dear Mr. Secretary: In accordance with
the promise which I gave you yesterday, I send you, herewith, a
short memorandum
[Page 436]
summarizing the position which has arisen with regard to the
proposed conference at Geneva on September 24th.
Believe me [etc.]
[Enclosure]
The British
Embassy to the Department of
State
Memorandum
The proposal that a Conference should be held at Geneva on
September 24th with a view more particularly to arriving at a
settlement of the question of the financial advances to be made
to Germany by the Allies under the terms of the Spa Gold [Coal?] Agreement, was made by His
Majesty’s Government in accordance with the decision of the Spa
Conference to refer the Reparation question to a Special
Commission at Geneva which should consist of “two delegates from
each Delegation”.
While this proposal has been accepted by the Italian, Belgian and
German Governments, the French Government, although prepared to
be represented at this Conference on the same footing as His
Majesty’s Government, have declined to accept the proposed date
on the ground that it is the same as that chosen for the
Financial Conference at Brussels, which many of their delegates
for Geneva would be obliged to attend.
In reply to representations, the French Government have amplified
the grounds for their refusal as follows:
- (1)
- Not only have they found it necessary, on technical
grounds to select the same delegates for the Brussels
and Geneva Conferences but, having regard to the nature
of the agenda for both Conferences and the necessity for
avoiding the slightest difference of policy or
interpretation between the French Representatives, they
consider it out of the question for the French
Government to be represented otherwise than by the same
delegates at the two meetings.
- (2)
- They regard it as improbable that, in the present
disposition of the German Government and in view of
their evident desire to seek all possible opportunities
of evading the obligations imposed by the Treaty of
Versailles, any favourable result could be expected from
discussion with their delegates at Geneva.
- (3)
- They allege that the proposed Conference at Geneva is
not regarded favourably by the United States Government
or by the Belgian Government. They claim that the United
States delegate on the Reparation Commission has already
lodged a formal protest against the Allied Agreement
arrived at at Spa on the ground that it is incompatible
with the Versailles Treaty, while the Belgian Government
are said to wish to act through the Reparation
Commission
[Page 437]
at
Paris directly without the convocation of a Special
Conference at a place so distant as Geneva. In addition
to the above reasons the French Government deprecate the
suggestion that any further action is necessary with
regard to gold advances to Germany or that any
undertaking on the subject has been given by the
Reparation Commission to the German Government. Under
existing arrangements the Germans receive advances in
exchange for gold [coal?] and
deposit bills in return, leaving the Reparation
Commission only the details of execution to
arrange.
His Majesty’s Government desire to point out that the policy
which the French are now proposing appears to run entirely
contrary to that which the Allies have attempted to carry out
since the date of the San Remo Conference, the essential point
in which has been that German cooperation in the execution of
the Treaty should be obtained so far as possible through direct
communication between the German Government and the Allies. With
this policy His Majesty’s Government had always believed the
United States Government to be in sympathy and they accordingly
ask that some enquiry be made as to the reasons for the action
of the American delegates on the Reparation Commission.
[Washington,] September 13, 1920.
