800.51W89/668
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Rogers)11
The following is the substance from memory of the telephone conversation between Secretary of State Stimson and President-elect Roosevelt at noon, January 23:
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
S[timson] Now the third thing is that we have to take some attitude on the procedure in the Economic Conference. Sackett telegraphed13 the other day that the Organizing Committee (on which you will remember he and Davis are our representatives) had to meet on the 25th and then would be called upon to fix a date and place. This troubled me very much.
R[oosevelt] Oh, yes indeed. We must not get tied down to anything on that just now.
S. Well I felt the same way but it was cleared up this morning by Sackett’s telegraphing14 that the British had suggested a statement to be made by the Committee at its meeting on the 25[th] which seems to satisfy the needs. I will read it to you from the telegram:
“It is not possible to fix the time of the London Conference at present but the date will be announced later. It is thought, however, that because the delegates appointed will need time to carefully prepare the questions involved, the conference cannot meet earlier than three months from the present time.”
My idea was to telegraph Sackett that that statement was acceptable to us. If you approve, I will tell him that that is the best way to handle it and will instruct him to accept that statement.
R. Yes, that seems to me entirely satisfactory. All right, we must keep that matter open.
S. Now there is another matter in connection with the Economic Conference. You remember I showed you at the White House the telegrams showing the outline of a program made by the Experts which [Page 459] includes a statement to the effect that a debt settlement is involved in making progress on economic agreements.
R. Yes, I remember. They tied them together some way.
S. Well now Sackett thinks that if we are anxious to keep the debts and the Economic Conference clear that we ought to make some statement or reservation at the time of the meeting of the Organizing Committee which will avoid any implication that we accept the principle that the Economic Conference is tied into the debt settlement. I want to know whether you would approve of our instructing him to that effect.15 I have a draft here of a wire. It would read like this:
“It is important that you make it entirely clear (as the Experts themselves unquestionably already stated) that the American Experts in any views they have expressed or may later express are not to be deemed as expressing the views of the Government of the United States or of the incoming administration. Nor is any approval of any time of convocation of the conference to be deemed by implication or otherwise to commit the United States to any policy in respect to the debts owed to the United States.”
R. Yes, that seems to me entirely all right. That would seem to meet it.
S. Yes, I have been trained for three years on that subject. I think I can do it in all these conversations. Now that is all we had to submit to you and I will go ahead with the two matters, namely, the other nations who want to be heard and the message to Sackett about the Economic Conference. Then you will let me know what your desires are in regard to the matter of France.
R. Yes, that is all right. Is Moley16 there?
S. No. Moley left here Friday or Saturday and I have not heard from him since except that he called me up because he was disturbed about the newspaper reports that there had been trouble here.
R. Oh, yes.
S. There were some troublesome newspaper reports trying to indicate there had been a disagreement in our conferences.
R. Yes, we always get that.
S. Moley talked to me on the telephone about that.
R. Well, if Moley comes through, as I presume he will, and sees you,
S. Yes, I expect to see him.
R. Give him copies of what you have said or sent in regard to these matters.
S. Yes indeed. I will see that he has everything. That I [is] all I had to talk to you about. I hope you are having a nice vacation.
R. Yes, it is a very nice one.
- This memorandum bears the marginal notation: “Herbert Feis says O. K.”↩
- For the omitted portion of this memorandum which pertained to intergovernmental debts, see p. 829.↩
- Telegram No. 10, January 20, 1933, 10 a.m., p. 454.↩
- See supra. ↩
- See infra. ↩
- Raymond Moley, adviser to President-elect Roosevelt.↩