500.A15A4/2219: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received October 14—3:10 p.m.]
745. Henderson has circulated the following text of a telegram received from Von Neurath.
“On behalf of the German Government I have the honor to make to you the following communication.
In the light of the course which recent discussions of the powers concerned have taken in the matter of disarmament, it is now clear that the Disarmament Conference will not fulfill what is its sole object, namely, general disarmament. It is also clear that this failure of the Conference is due solely to the unwillingness on the part of the highly armed states to carry out their contractual obligation to disarm. This renders impossible the satisfaction of Germany’s recognized claim to equality of rights, and the condition on which the German Government agreed at the beginning of this year to take part in the work of the Conference thus no longer exists.
The German Government is accordingly compelled to leave the Disarmament Conference.”
Henderson is calling a private meeting tomorrow morning of the representatives of Great Britain, France, Italy and the United States to discuss the procedure for Monday’s meeting.