Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1932, The British Commonwealth, Europe, Near East and Africa, Volume II

882.01 Foreign Control/264: Telegram

The Consul at Geneva (Gilbert) to the Secretary of State

Geneva, May 19, 1932—9 p.m.
[Received 9:05 p.m.]

198. From Reber. After the presentation of my memorandum and reservation described in my 196, May 18, 7 p.m.,⁴² and upon the request of Italian and Spanish members of the Committee who wished to present reservations of a juridical character, the President decided to reconvene the Committee this afternoon for a final examination and approval of the report.

It was accepted after considerable discussion as to the wording of the text. It reviews the work of the Committee through its three sessions and recommends the general principles of the plan to be adopted along the lines of the Cecil proposal (see my 191, May 15, 10 a.m. [11 a.m.])⁴¹ with certain changes and the amendment that in the event of difficulty in the application of the plan of assistance provision is made for the possibility of recourse to the Council. It concludes its main section with the statement that the Committee can only lend its support to work which will be efficient and is of the opinion that the general limitations which it has indicated are a minimum below which it would appear impossible to go. At the same time it adds that the Committee cannot recommend with any hope of success the opening of negotiations with the American groups concerned if the latter are not given legitimate guarantees under the plan.

Following this section are reservations: the Liberian which states that the plan must be submitted for the approval of the Government in Monrovia; the Italian and Spanish relating to procedure in the Council and the necessity for obtaining the approval of Liberia; and the American.

In the first draft the Committee had recommended simultaneous presentation of the plan to the Firestone groups and Liberia but after my urgent representations in private conversations and in view of our general reservation it was agreed to suppress this version of the text and to substitute a statement to the effect that the Government of Liberia is requested to make known at the earliest possible opportunity its decision as to the plan of assistance. If it accepts the principles of the plan the Committee considers it would be desirable that negotiations be started between the representatives of the interested parties supplied with full powers. The Committee will meet as soon as the Liberian reply can be received, in any case not later than the month of August. In view of this change and upon the urgent request of the rapporteur I withdrew from the written section of the reservation the phrase relating to our unwillingness to accept the proposal of simultaneous transmission although making it clear in the discussion that this was our attitude.

It was not felt that our suggestion relating to the appointment of a subcommittee was acceptable by the full Committee except in the form above set forth since the Liberian representative was insistent upon the necessity of receiving the prior approval of his Government before continuing. Therefore, I made no change in the memorandum as circulated but merely referred to it and made mention in the discussions of our urgent desire that some machinery for continued negotiations be set up.

The conclusion of the report sets out in brief the situation on the Kru Coast and suggests that the Council authorize the immediate despatch, as an emergency measure, of an individual to act as conciliatory agent and for the restoration of peaceful conditions. It was determined that the choice of this individual should be left to negotiations between the President of the Committee and the Liberian representative.

The German representative⁴⁴ at the end of our discussions mentioned a meeting reported to have taken place in Monrovia between the representatives of the British, French, German and American Governments relating to the serious health situation and the lack of funds for continuance of necessary sanitary work. He said a decision had been reached in this meeting to urge the American Government to use its good offices to procure further funds. I replied that I had not been informed of the results of this meeting but felt that this situation only emphasized our desire that the Committee continue to work with the least delay possible for I felt that as soon as an acceptable plan was adopted funds could be secured. It was determined to make some mention of this health situation in the transmitting statement for our report to be made tomorrow at the Council by the rapporteur.

The Committee adjourned today to meet again upon the call of the President when the Liberian reply has been received.

A full text of this report and of the rapporteur’s statement will be mailed before the close of this week.⁴⁵ [Reber.]

Gilbert

42. Not printed; for text of the reservation included in the report of the Committee, see telegram No. 200, May 21, noon, from the Consul at Geneva, p. 731.
41. Not printed.
44. Herr von Kamphövener.
45. For text of the Committee’s report, submitted to the Council May 20, see League of Nations, Official Journal, July 1932, p. 1355; for text of the rapporteur’s statement, see ibid., p. 1222.