793.94/5711

Memorandum by the Secretary of State

The German Ambassador1a came in to make inquiries—first, about the Far East.1b I told him that while I had a good deal of information it was of such an imperfect and conflicting character that I could not make any prophecy as to what was about to happen at Shanhaikwan and Jehol. I said that, nevertheless, since the publication of the Lytton Report,1c I was sitting very comfortably because I felt that when the representatives of five nations were able to agree unanimously upon a report which so completely corroborated the information and views of this Government, it would be likely to have an immense influence upon the situation in the end.

The Ambassador then asked me about the situation in general, including disarmament. I told him I had nothing to say about details but that, in regard to the general situation, the policy of this Government was founded upon such a solid foundation that I felt certain we would progress through in the end. I then sketched out to him what these foundations were. First, the admitted condition in the world today where civilization had developed in the industrialized countries into such a fragile condition of interdependence and the methods of war had developed so greatly in power and destructiveness that it was now becoming clear to every one that unless we succeeded in limiting and preventing wars some future war would probably destroy our entire civilization. He told me he heartily agreed. I [Page 2] said I recognized the fact that this situation applied more strongly to the White Race and industrialized communities and that methods which were appropriate to them might be ineffective and inappropriate yet to nations of a less developed civilization … that it was unfortunate the peace machinery which the world was developing did not apply with equal appropriateness to these more backward nations but it was the only machinery which we had and my policy was to do my best to make it effective and to prevent it from being destroyed. To this, the Ambassador also signified his hearty concurrence.

The proceedings of the several commissions for 1933 are printed in League of Nations, Conference for the Reduction and Limitation of Armaments, Geneva: Records of the Conference, Series B, Minutes of the General Commission, vols. ii, in; Series C, Minutes of the Bureau, vols. i, ii; Series D, vol. iv, Minutes of the National Defence Expenditure Commission; Series D, vol. v, Minutes of the Political Commission; Conference Documents, vol. ii.

In reply to a further question about details as to the disarmament conference, I told him I was encouraged by Germany’s return to the conference and I thought that the spirit there was more hopeful, very largely due to the admirable work done by M. Herriot1d and that of Baron von Neurath.1e

H[enry] L. S[timson]
  1. Friedrich W. von Prittwitz und Gaffron.
  2. For correspondence concerning the Far Eastern crisis, see vol. iii, pp. 1 ff.
  3. League of Nations, Appeal by the Chinese Government, Report of the Commission of Enquiry (Geneva, October 1, 1932).
  4. President of the French Council of Ministers, June-December, 1932.
  5. German Minister for Foreign Affairs.