793.94/2120: Telegram
The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 15—8:30 a.m.]
201. If I take a Council seat in the China-Japan dispute, it might easily lead to the Council President’s asking me to join the so-called Committee of Five. As you will recall, this is not a formal Council committee and so far has consisted of the British, French, German, Italian, and Spanish representatives, who were requested by the Council President to assist him in considering the question. If I should sit with this group, of course it would be under exactly the same terms as in the case of sitting at the Council table. I might easily receive the request in the form that the subject for consideration was to be the relationship between the current situation and the Kellogg Pact.
I would appreciate being instructed as to what reply should be made by me to such an invitation in the event of its informal extension to me.