500.A15a3/207: Telegram
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Dawes) to the Secretary of State
[Received September 26—1:47 p.m.]
283. The Italian, French and Japanese Ambassadors have called on me with regard to the delay in sending out the Conference invitations which they had expected to receive before this time from the British Government. I explained, with the Foreign Office’s approval, that the delay had been caused by the necessity for the British Government to inform the Dominions as to the form of the agreement, that the United States and Great Britain were practically agreed upon the form except as regards minor details, and that upon the receipt of Dominion approval and after the United States had given its consent, the invitations would be issued. This morning I called at the Foreign Office and learned that Australia, Canada, and the Free State had not yet been heard from. It is the intention of the Foreign Office to cable them this morning, asking them, as soon as possible, to reply. As the situation is viewed from this side, it would appear to be desirable that the invitations be given out before the Prime Minister’s arrival in the United States, since a delay until a later date might give rise to the impression that an essential difficulty in agreeing exists, although, in fact, there is none. I suggested the following plan of procedure, subject to your approval, which the Foreign Office finds satisfactory: Should the agreement of Australia, Canada, and the Free State not be received prior to Mr. MacDonald’s departure tomorrow night the draft of the invitation should, as soon as received, be communicated to me for transmission to you; as soon as possible after its receipt you would then let me know whether or not it is satisfactory. If you find it satisfactory, it will then be issued by the Foreign Office while the Prime Minister is still crossing the Atlantic. If this procedure meets with your view please cable me, bearing in mind that its alteration rests in your hands, entirely, inasmuch as you can withhold your approval of the form of the invitation submitted to you until after the Prime Minister’s arrival should you deem this desirable.72
My conversation with the Prime Minister this morning did not deal in any length with the present state of the negotiations since [Page 260] Mr. MacDonald evidently wishes the status quo under which the conversations in Washington will commence to be completed by his last letter. His former intimation which I cabled to you some time ago concerning the reduction of the British 10,000 ton cruisers from fifteen to fourteen, was not referred to by him and for that reason I also did not bring up that subject. However, he did speak of another possible reduction in the British proposal of some 3,000 tons. I inferred that this suggestion had some connection with a detached statement of his to me to the effect that he had discovered that of the cruisers he had been counting as having a displacement of 10,000 tons each, two had in reality a displacement each of only 8,500 tons.
While Mr. MacDonald is not taking a naval expert with him, I think it well to point out that Craigie, of the Foreign Office, who will accompany him, has a close acquaintance with the naval problem and has, during the progress of the negotiations, been kept thoroughly informed by his Government.
- By telegram No. 285, September 27, 4 p.m. (not printed), the Ambassador reported that the Dominions had approved the revised text of the invitation without change (500.A15a3/216).↩