500.A16/24: Telegram
The Minister in Switzerland (Gibson) to the Secretary of State
[Received 12:57 p.m.]
248. My 177, March 15, 10 a.m. Drafting committee met Tuesday afternoon. I had previously informed the chairman, Bernstorff, that as long as the committee was not prepared to consider a draft agreement providing publicity for government as well as private manufacture it was difficult for me to participate. As he made it clear that this condition could not be met, I did not attend meeting and confined myself to forwarding a memorandum to chairman commenting on secret [secrecy?] provisions of the draft agreement and emphasizing that any more detailed discussion thereof would be useful only if the essential principle of publicity for government manufacture were to be accepted.67 As Commission is more or less evenly divided, question will probably be referred to June session of Council before further steps are taken.
- See League of Nations, Report of the Special Commission, etc., “Observations of the Representative of the United States,” p. 13.↩