560.M5/33
The Secretary General of the League of Nations (Drummond) to the Acting Secretary of State40
Sir: I have the honour to inform you that the Council of the League of Nations decided at its meeting on January 14th, 1930, to convene for Monday, February 17th, 1930, at 11 a.m. at Geneva, the Conference contemplated in the first part of the Tenth Assembly’s resolution dealing with the economic work of the League (A.68. 1929.II).41
The object of this Conference is defined in the resolution, which states that “in order that this concerted action may be pursued on a firm basis and in an atmosphere of confidence, the Assembly recommends that States which are prepared to participate therein should agree not to increase their protective tariffs above the present level for a period of from two to three years, or to impose new protective duties or create new impediments to trade.” It therefore recommends “the establishment, if necessary, of a programme of subsequent negotiations for facilitating economic relations by all practicable means and especially by reducing hindrances to trade”.
As the representative of Germany pointed out in his report to the last session of the Council, the Assembly defined its ideas concerning the character of the conference in the following paragraph of its resolution: “no effective action will be possible in the future unless the Governments are now requested to examine in their turn the questions left in suspense by the Consultative Committee and by the Economic Committee, availing themselves of the work accomplished by those Committees to assist them in their decisions”. In the report introducing the resolution the Assembly expressed “the conviction that negotiations for an economic rapprochement must not be left entirely in the hands of technical experts, but that, on the contrary, it is essential for Governments to participate more directly than they have hitherto done”.
The text of this resolution was communicated to you on September 30th, 1929, by my circular letter No. 258.1929.II.42 On November 7th, 1929, by my circular letter No. 305.1929.II,42 I had the honour to send you the text of a preliminary draft convention intended to serve as a basis for the conference’s discussions and prepared by the Economic [Page 239] Committee in accordance with the instructions contained in the Assembly resolution.
I take this opportunity to send you a copy of the report by the representative of Germany,43 who is Rapporteur to the Council on economic questions. This report was approved by the Council on January 14th, 1930. I should in addition inform you that since that date the Japanese and Lithuanian Governments have notified me that they also will take part in the projected conference.
Further, I feel that I should let you know that the Governments of Belgium, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Greece, Spain, Hungary and Poland, have informed me of the composition of their delegations. The delegations of Belgium, Great Britain, Spain, Hungary and Poland will be headed by responsible Members of the Cabinet.
Lastly I have the honour to inform you that at its meeting on January 14th the Council appointed Count Carl Moltke, Minister Plenipotentiary and ex-Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark, to preside over the Conference.
I have [etc.]