500.A15A4 General Committee/390: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 21—1:25 p.m.]
649. Your 335, May 20, 2 p.m. In compliance with your suggestion, I am omitting words indicated in paragraph 23. I realize and sympathize with your preoccupation about the danger of creating the opinion that the success of the Economic Conference is dependent on the success of the Disarmament Conference. A failure here would not, of course, prevent the Economic Conference from achieving a limited success such as agreements to stabilize currencies and perhaps to limit further increases in trade barriers but the increase in political instability which would follow failure to reach agreement for disarmament could well again upset currency stability.
Some delegates here and particularly Benes with whom I have talked are still holding back from taking the decisive step of accepting the British plan and are arguing that if we can adjourn here on June 12th until the fall we can then go to the Economic Conference where it will be easier to reach agreements and that the success of the Economic Conference will in turn make it easier to succeed here upon the reconvening of the Conference.
The powers which are advocating the postponement of this Conference in order in the meantime to hold the Economic Conference and thus prepare the way for ultimate success here are the very ones which will cause the greatest difficulty at the Economic Conference. They will be the ones most opposed to giving up quotas, prohibitions and exchange control. I feel that we should resist any movement for postponement and take advantage of the initiative given by the [Page 165] President’s message and Germany’s more conciliatory attitude to press for decisions here and now.