500.A12/45: Telegram
The Ambassador in Japan (Bancroft) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 18—10:45 a.m.]
51. Two Tokyo newspapers today carry London despatch which says: [Page 9]
“Following the failure of the Geneva Protocol,14 the President’s announcement of his intention to call another conference evidently follows course of action agreed upon by Chamberlain and Kellogg when they came to an understanding just before the latter left London”.
Despatch refers to President’s alleged decision to proceed with conference even if some powers refuse to take part, as being aimed at France in London’s opinion.
The chief aide to the Minister of the Navy said today that Japan was persuaded that conversations had taken place between the United States and Great Britain before the first Washington Conference (1922) and in guarded reference to above report gave impression that those conversations were regarded by Japanese as very significant.
- On March 12 the British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs stated to the Council of the League of Nations that his Government could not accept the protocol or recommend its acceptance to the other Governments of the Empire. See Great Britain, Cmd. 2368, Miscellaneous No. 5 (1925).↩