500.A15a3/744: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation (Stimson)
198. Just had a consultation regarding your telegram No. 126, March 10. There is no comment. The course which you are pursuing is all right; we do not well see how you could take any other.
If the information leaked out that what France wanted is a security pact of mutual military action against an aggressor and that a purely consultative pact would not help in reducing her figures, it might be helpful to public opinion here. It is impossible, of course, [Page 57] to do that here. The reporters who are supposed to represent the views of Briand give just the opposite impression in American papers. However, you will have to decide whether to follow this suggestion. You will understand that it is only a suggestion.