500.A15a3/1269
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The Italian Ambassador had a long telegram which he did not read to me, nor give me the contents of. But he said that Signor Grandi was doubtful whether the French will wish to make an agreement or will refrain from insisting upon recognition of inferiority by Italy. [Page 179] The Ambassador mentioned the statements of Beaumarchais. I told him that I remembered what he had reported Beaumarchais to have said to Signor Grandi and had no reason to discredit Signor Grandi’s report of it as being accurate73 but I knew those were not the instructions of the French Government74 and they no longer stood in the way of an agreement. I told him that whereas I was a little afraid at first that the French were not anxious to make an agreement, that apprehension on my part had been removed and I was confident now that the French were ready to make a fair agreement. I said that my apprehension had now shifted to whether Italy was ready to do its part and that I was inclined to fear that she was not. I told him that I was keeping in touch with the conversations which were going on in Geneva and I wished he would convey to Signor Grandi what I said, namely, that I felt sure that the French were ready to make a fair agreement and that I hoped Italy would not block it. He said he would do so.