711.5112France/329: Telegram
The Ambassador in France (Herrick) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 6—2 p.m.]
147. I saw Briand this morning when he unexpectedly returned from the country for two days. The substance of his remarks on the peace treaty negotiations is as follows:
[Page 80]The negotiations have reached a point where it is difficult to see how they can fail. When the idea of a bilateral treaty (France and the United States) was expanded into a multilateral form of treaty, France felt it imperative that reservations and explanations covering both her general and special situation be formulated. These have been taken into account by the other powers and have been shown to have been justified by their replies. Your speech of April 28,76 moreover, gave all the desired “appeasement” not only to France but also to those other countries which, although they were not invited to be original signatories to the proposed treaty, are deeply concerned in outcome of the negotiations and share France’s point of view with regard thereto. It should be a comparatively easy matter, seemingly, to cast this general harmony of views into concrete form either by way of a protocol accompanying the treaty, or through a more matured preamble or by some other method.
Not only did the Foreign Minister speak words of optimism but they appeared genuinely to reflect his state of mind. When I saw him he showed few signs of his recent severe illness.
Copies of the foregoing have been mailed to Embassies in Berlin, London, Rome, and Brussels.