Office of the Historian

462.00R296A1/116: Telegram

The Chargé in France (Armour) to the Secretary of State

Paris, February 13, 1932—10 a.m.
[Received 12:08 p.m.]

97. Reference Department’s telegram No. 47, January 27, noon.12 The following is the text of communiqué regarding decision reported taken at Geneva yesterday which has been informally furnished the Embassy by the French Government with the information that it will undoubtedly be given to the press today.

“The French and British Governments following the adjournment of the Lausanne Conference previously contemplated for January [Page 671] last, have discussed between them the conditions under which the next Conference could be united. Following this exchange of views, the bases of an agreement between the Governments have been determined.

Sir John Simon Minister for Foreign Affairs now at Geneva had been charged to communicate to the Governments principally interested these bases of agreement with the result that it is now possible to communicate the following note to the press.

  • ‘1. The German, Belgian, British, French, Italian and Japanese Governments, after having taken note of the report of the Basle experts, agreed of [to?] recommend to the participating countries the postponement of the Lausanne Conference to the month of June.
  • 2. In their opinion the purpose of the Conference should be to establish a lasting settlement (réglement durable) of the questions mentioned in the Basle report as well as the measures necessary to remedy other economic and financial questions which have provoked or risen to prolong the crisis from which the world is suffering.
  • 3. The common desire of the above-mentioned governments has led them to this agreement which they hope will result in relieving the international situation.’”13

As of interest in connection with the mention of “other financial and economic questions” in paragraph above an official of the Finance Ministry mentioned that the French Government’s preoccupation concerned to a very great extent the question of customs duties.

Repeated to Geneva, Berlin, London, Brussels and Rome.

Armour
  1. Not printed.↩
  2. For text as issued by the British Foreign Office, see the London Times, February 15, p. 12.↩