560.M2/356: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation (Hull)
73. The President, who entirely approved your recommendation that notice of withdrawal be given suggests that “this information be made public by the Secretary in London. He can explain it is done after conversations with other signatories, that treaty is poorly adapted to present situation; that other signatories are withdrawing, and that we feel such course will expedite and encourage a more practical convention resulting from Economic Conference”.
If you approve, I suggest that you repeat the following instruction to the Legation at Bern as the Department’s telegram No. 30, June 27, 11 a.m.
“Please present the following note to the Secretary General of the League as soon as possible and in no circumstances later than June 30th:
‘In accordance with Paragraph 6 of the Protocol of December 20, 1929, to the International Convention for the Abolition of Import and Export Prohibitions and Restrictions, the Acting Secretary of State of the United States of America hereby gives notice of the American Government’s withdrawal from this convention effective June 30, 1933. It is with great reluctance that the American Government has been forced to take this action. It had been hoped that the principle embodied in this convention would be widely accepted by the nations of the world. The reverse of this has, however, been true, and the withdrawal from the convention of other nations leads to the conclusion that the existing convention may not be fully adapted to present economic and commercial conditions. In taking this present course it is the American Government’s hope that there may result from the labors of the Monetary and Economic Conference now sitting at London a convention of this nature which will be widely adopted and adhered to by the nations of the world.’”
If you desire alterations made in the phraseology of this note, please telegraph suggested changes to me immediately.
We shall give no publicity whatever to this in Washington until after your statement.