Office of the Historian

500.A15a3/835: Telegram

The Chairman of the American Delegation (Stimson) to the Acting Secretary of State

[Paraphrase]
London, April 10, 1930—5 p.m.
[Received April 10—2:55 p.m.]

212. This morning we reached an agreement with the British and the Japanese; we are now endeavoring to arrive at an agreement with the French and the Italians, so that the results of the work shall be embodied in single treaty. Following is the tentative program which we have accepted:22

“Skeleton of proposed five-power treaty.

  • Part I. A five-power agreement amending Washington Treaty so as to provide:
    (1)
    For a capital ship holiday of all five powers; France and Italy to have the right to still lay down the tonnage which they were entitled to lay down in 1927 and 1929.
    (2)
    Agreement for scrapping 3 capital ships by the United States, 5 by British Empire, and 1 by Japan.
    (3)
    New definition of aircraft carrier.
  • Part II. Five-power agreement declaring the rules of international law as to the use of submarines.
  • Part III. Three-power agreement dealing with auxiliary vessels including therein provisions relating to exempt and special ships.

Entire treaty shall go into effect as to Great Britian, United States of America, and Japan when ratified by these three nations.”

The Japanese have abandoned their position on the transference of tonnage from destroyer category into the submarine category, and have accepted definite limitation to 52,700 tons of submarine tonnage. In order to provide certain amount of work in Japanese dockyards, we have made allowance for some premature scrapping and replacement of light cruisers, destroyers, and submarines, always subject to provision that total tonnage limitations of these categories shall [Page 107] not be exceeded. We have also consented to retention by each of the three nations of one demilitarized battleship for a gunnery training ship and that three demilitarized cruisers of the Kuma class may be retained by Japan to be used as cadet training vessels to replace five over age ships now being used for that purpose.

Please repeat to Tokyo.23

Stimson
  1. Quotation not paraphrased.↩
  2. Transmitted to the Embassy in Japan as Department’s telegram No. 68, April 10, 3 p.m.↩