500.A15A4 Land Armaments/52: Telegram

The Acting Secretary of State to the Acting Chairman of the American Delegation (Gibson)

103. Your 182, May 10, midnight. We held a joint meeting yesterday afternoon with the Chief of Staff7 and the Chief of Naval Operations8 and after careful study of the points raised in your telegram, all agreed upon the following answer.

The main preoccupation of the Delegation in relation to gas warfare should be the formulation of an agreement that is universal in scope. A treaty which is not universal and only binds certain powers as between themselves would not basically solve the problem, as until all powers have agreed to do away with gas warfare it is difficult to create a requisite sense of security.

In our opinion, should such a universal agreement to outlaw the use of gas as a weapon of international conflict be brought into effect, the experiences of the following few years would more readily convince the public of the reality of the abolition of gas warfare than a treaty of fewer signatories extended by the measures you propose.

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In the last analysis any international agreement depends upon the integrity of its signers. This applies to conventions that are to obtain in time of war as well as in time of peace. The more such an agreement is hedged with further conditions, the greater the temptation first to suspicion, then to evasion, and finally to a demand for international control. This being the case, an undertaking on the part of governments to refrain from peace time preparation or manufacture of toxic gas would seem in essence to weaken and not to strengthen a ban upon its use in time of war. Further it would seem of little concrete value in view of the impracticability of interfering with legitimate but equivalent civilian industry.

Under the present circumstances, our answer to your points 1, 2, and 3 must accordingly be no. You are correct in 4 and 5 and in 6 some service department must be retained until experience shows that abolition of gas warfare is an accomplishment.

Castle
  1. General Douglas MacArthur.
  2. Admiral William V. Pratt.