763.72119/12452
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Edge)
Dear Mr. Ambassador: I appreciate having your letter of February 3, 1931, concerning Armour’s attendance at the Conference of Ambassadors on January 12. It was of course the natural thing for you to have Armour attend this meeting. However, since this organization of the Allied or Associated Powers is almost defunct it might have been a good time for us to have dropped out of even limited participation. I think it would be advisable to let future meetings go unattended unless there should be some very particular reason of American direct interest, which I do not see at the moment, for attendance.
Sincerely yours,
[In a letter of March 3, 1931, Mr. Armour inquired of Mr. J. Theodore Marriner, Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs, whether Mr. Stimson’s letter of February 18 was to be considered as countermanding officially the instruction contained in the Department’s telegram No. 243, May 7, 1921. In reply Mr. Marriner wrote on April 11: “I think that the Department would rather let the instruction of May 7, 1921 stand as it is and have it more or less understood that it will be left to the Embassy’s discretion whether someone should or should not attend future meetings of the Conference of Ambassadors.” (763.72119/12462)
The Conference of Ambassadors apparently ceased to meet at this time.]