500.A15 a 1/519c: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson)
71. The President at his press conference this afternoon said:
“I think the Press has all the information that has come to me relative to the Naval Conference at Geneva. The proposals that have been made by the representatives of Great Britain seem to us to call for the building of a much larger Navy than we think is necessary, so that we haven’t been able to agree. Now, whether these proposals may be modified as the result of conference and discussion, I don’t know. The proposals that have been presented, as I understand them, call for the building of a larger Navy than we should wish to agree to. I think that is the main obstacle. There are some other collateral questions about the tonnage of ships and the calibre of the guns, but I think the main difference is in the size of the Navy. We called this Conference, thinking that it might result in placing a limitation on Armaments which would perhaps help the countries interested to reduce some as years went by the size of their Navies, which would result in making economies, and secondly, what I thought was of even more importance, the promotion of a spirit of peace and good will and better understanding. I have placed that, of course, as the main object in view. The matter of the removal of the burden of taxation and the economic benefits would be the natural consequences of peace and good will among the Nations. But up to the present time the expressed [Page 140] desire on the part of representatives of the British Government is for so large a Navy that our representatives and our government haven’t been able to agree.
As I said before, I want to emphasize that discussion may modify it to such an extent that we can agree.”