500.A15a4/374
Memorandum by the Secretary of State of a Conversation With the German Ambassador (Von Prittwitz)
The German Ambassador and I interchanged reminiscences of our meeting in Berlin. I told him of my great appreciation of my meeting with the members of the German Government, particularly President Hindenburg and Chancellor Bruening.30
The Ambassador then brought up the question of the Disarmament Conference and asked whether I had any news of what Mr. Henderson was going to do. I told him that I had not; that I had learned when I was leaving London that Henderson was regarded as technically eligible to remain as President but that it had not yet been decided whether he would remain. I told him that inasmuch as the preparation for the British participation in that conference had been in the hands of a three-party committee representing not only members of the Labor Government but the leaders of the Conservative and Liberal Parties and inasmuch as this committee had reached harmonious views (so I was informed) as to policy, I did not anticipate that the change of Government in Britain would make any change in policy. I said that I had told the same thing to the Italian Ambassador when [Page 522] he asked that question. The German Ambassador then expressed the hope that Mr. Henderson might remain, not only because he was so sincerely devoted to disarmament but because he feared that seeking a successor would make a disturbance.
The Ambassador then brought up the Grandi suggestion as to a naval holiday.31 I told him that this government was sincerely in sympathy with that; that we understood its purpose to be to prevent our meeting in Geneva being interrupted by the noise of hammers in naval dockyards; and that I thought that was a valuable purpose which conduced to the success of the meeting. I said we had not yet the details but we approved of the suggestion; that I had not allowed myself to be quoted on it simply because I did not wish to embarrass Grandi personally.