800.51W89 U.S.S.R./74
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Moore) of a Conversation With the Ambassador of the Soviet Union (Troyanovsky), June 20, 1934
The Ambassador called to comment upon a very severe criticism of the Soviet contained in a speech by General Johnson of the NRA33 delivered at Charleston, West Virginia, June 16. I told him that the speech had not been drawn to my attention until this morning in anticipation of his visit and that personally I am not inclined to regard it as likely to have made any impression so far as concerns that portion of it alluded to. He said that it was expected that General Johnson was about to deliver another speech in which he might renew his attack on the Soviet and I promised him that I would endeavor to get in touch with General Johnson so as, if possible, to avoid this being done. After Mr. Troyanovsky left, I found that General Johnson is in Memphis and, as a result of talking with the Secretary and Under Secretary, the latter found a way of having General Johnson’s office communicate with him.
I said to Mr. Troyanovsky that his own Government seems to have violated its pledge against propaganda by permitting the Third Internationale to send out from Moscow urgent suggestions that Communists everywhere should seek the overthrow of our Government and other governments by violent methods. He simply shrugged his shoulders at this. I told him further that we have information to the [Page 112] effect that Mr. Skvirsky recently went to New York to try to persuade Mrs. Norman Hapgood to go along with Extremists in an effort to convert a cultural American-Russian organization in New York into a propagandist machine. He denied this and said that the only purpose of Skvirsky was to try to select a fit person as head of the organization and he mentioned Professor Dewey. I am quite certain that he was far from frank in his explanation, from the information given me by Mr. Wehle two or three weeks ago.
The most interesting feature of the conversation to me was the statement that Mr. Litvinoff had wired him asking him to ascertain my opinion as to the expediency of transferring the debt negotiations from Moscow to Washington, and when I said that I thought this most desirable, he stated that he would at once communicate with Litvinoff. He concurred in my opinion that, should he and I take up the negotiations here, we ought to find no great difficulty in reaching a tentative agreement, subject to the approval of the two Governments. I am now very hopeful that in a short time he will receive the necessary authority and that there will be a good prospect of a conclusion being arrived at.
- National Recovery Administration.↩