500.A15a4/6½
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs (Marriner) of a Conversation With the British Ambassador (Lindsay)
The British Ambassador took me aside at the Secretary’s breakfast at the Pan American Union yesterday and said that he had just received a telegram from his Government stating that at the forthcoming meeting of the Council of the League, the question of the organization of and date for the final Disarmament Conference would come up. He said that it was generally understood that the date would be February, 1932, and that at present it was contemplated that Beneš should be President of the Conference. He likewise said that it had been informally agreed that Munch, of Denmark,86 should be one of the two Vice Presidents, this being an effort to offset the alleged pro-French point of view of Beneš. He said that it was the desire of his Government and many of the other European Governments that the other Vice President of the Conference should be chosen from the United States in order to have someone of great prestige and at the same time someone disinterested in the immediate European problems. He said that the President and the two Vice Presidents would form a sort of small steering committee previous to the calling of the Conference, in order to sound out the various Governments and prepare the work of the Conference.
I asked the Ambassador if his Government had specified anyone in particular and he said no, although they felt that some such person as Hugh Gibson would be ideal. I told the Ambassador that I had some [Page 478] doubts as to whether this Government would feel like assuming a responsibility of this character, as in a triumvirate such as he suggested, the United States, as the only one of the Great Powers represented, would no doubt assume, in the eyes of the world, a major part of the responsibility for the success or failure of the Conference. The Ambassador said that he hoped that we would be willing to make this contribution to the cause of disarmament, in which we had always been so keenly interested.
The Ambassador said he had spoken to me in order that I could sound out the Secretary and give him time perhaps to speak with the President before he should himself follow out his instructions of putting the question up to the Secretary personally. I told him I would do so and make an appointment for him to see Mr. Stimson.
- Peter Munch, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Denmark.↩