500.A15/990: Telegram
The Chargé in Great Britain (Atherton) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 27—4:28 p.m.]
130. In view of Department’s instruction No. 1827 of May 15, which I have just received, I am venturing to cable résumé of my despatch No. 3650,30 forwarded to Department last Saturday by pouch. The chief of the American section, Mr. Craigie, who accompanied the British delegation to Geneva, asked me to call at the Foreign Office last Friday. During our conversation he stated conviction of the British that failure of the Anglo-American naval conversations which took place in 1927 was result of lack of preliminary preparatory agreement between Great Britain and the United States. In connection with Gibson’s speech at Geneva, he referred to the existence of certain American [Page 110] figures, and stated that the British Admiralty on their part had reduced Gibson’s formula to figures based on needs of British. Craigie stated his belief that without any hint getting to the press and without the knowledge of even any large number of officials, some sort of preliminary Anglo-American conversations between political officials (as in contradistinction to technical officials) should take place for the following reasons: (1) Possibly to lay frankly the two sets of figures prepared on Gibson’s formula side by side and then see actually how far apart the two nations are; and/or (2) determine in the strictest confidence and without any possible publicity an interpretation of the Gibson formula which could be accepted by the British and the American Governments in any subsequent and less secret discussions. Craigie obviously had in mind that General Dawes,31 on his arrival here from Washington, might well be the agent who, with least possible publicity, could initiate any preliminary conversations of strictly intimate nature which then might well be followed by the visit to the United States which it was stated is contemplated by Mr. Baldwin32 in late summer, assuming that Conservative Party is returned to power at the forthcoming elections.