462.00R296/4226
Memorandum by the Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs (Boal) of a Conversation With the British Ambassador (Lindsay)
The British Ambassador called to say that he had informed his Government that Ambassador Sackett would make confidential representations to the German Government on the subject of suspension of the next ship of the Deutschland type and his Government had agreed that they would suggest to the German Government that they accommodate the French with respect to the Customs Union. He asked that the Department telegraph to Ambassador Sackett so that he would be informed of the situation regarding the Customs Union and would say that we shared the British view if he were asked by the Germans.
I read to the British Ambassador that part of sections 9 and 10 of Telegram No. 377 from Paris,98 which states that the French Government [Page 109] expects to state that the construction of the 22,000-ton cruiser originally included in the French naval appropriation for the coming year will be abandoned if the German Government will likewise cease its naval construction of ships of the Deutschland type.