500.A15a3/1166: Telegram
The Chargé in France ( Armour ) to the Secretary of State
334. This morning the Counselor of the British Embassy here called to say that the Embassy had received from London a copy of the telegram which Lindsay51 had sent from Washington to the Foreign Office stating that you had taken up with the Embassy the rumored naval construction program of the French Government as it had been reported to you by us; and that you had made the suggestion that the British and Japanese Governments join with the American Government in an endeavor to persuade the Governments of France and Italy to come to an agreement on naval disarmament.
The Counselor said that you had hoped to receive a reply from London before Gibson sailed for Europe, but that the British Foreign Office had wished first to consult the Japanese Government but had found this impossible. The Counselor asked whether, in the meantime, I could give him the source of our information on the French naval program regarding which the British apparently had no information.
I said that we had received our information from a source which we deemed reliable and pointed out that in the issue of Figaro for October 18 an article appeared by Thomazi, the journal’s naval expert, who is himself a reserve officer of the Marine, and is in close [Page 143] touch with the French Ministry of Marine; and that this article contained substantially the same information as that which had been set forth in our telegram to you four days before the appearance of the Figaro article referred to.
The Counselor and I agreed that we should both try to obtain official confirmation of the reported French program, using the Figaro article as a basis. As I am endeavoring to arrange for Gibson the interviews with Tardieu and Briand which you requested, I am particularly anxious to have something definite for him when he arrives four days from now.
Referring again to your No. 260, October 16, 6 p.m., I would draw your attention particularly to a conversation between the Ambassador and Tardieu just before the former left Paris and reported by him in the Embassy’s despatch No. 927, October 8. The despatch should have reached you by this date. See also our telegram No. 325, October 14, 9 p.m.51b