550.S1/621: Telegram
The Chargé in France ( Marriner ) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 5—6:11 p.m.]
136. From Davis. In conversations with Boncour last night and Daladier today37 they both raised the question of joint collaboration [Page 486] preparatory to the Economic Conference. Boncour stated that they strongly favored preliminary conversations in Washington and were prepared at any time to send representatives there for that purpose.
It seems clear that their apparent enthusiasm for the Economic Conference and for the preliminary conversations in Washington is due to the belief that it will furnish them an opportunity to take up the debt issue with us in the hope either of effecting a settlement or at least a postponement during the Economic Conference work. The French now realize that they have got themselves into a jam by their December default and the more liberal school like the idea of the preliminary conversations as furnishing a possible means of getting authority from the Chamber to effect the payment. The more conservative group, represented by the Finance Ministry for example, hope to get an assurance of a postponement of June 15 payment before making the December payment. I suspect that the British treasury is encouraging the French treasury to believe that it is advisable to defer correcting the December 15 default until there is some assurance that none of them will be called upon to make June 15 payments.
If you think it desirable to bring pressure on the French to make the December 15th payment this might most effectively be done before final arrangements are made for the sending of any French representatives to Washington for preliminary conversations if such conversations are to be held. [Davis.]