740.0011 Four-Power Pact/67: Telegram
The Ambassador in Italy (Garrett) to the Secretary of State
[Received 3:10 p.m.]
33. At my farewell audience with Chief of the Government he brought up the state of affairs in the Far East and with great emphasis said that the gravest danger the world was facing was Japan. He could see nothing to prevent her gaining control over China and thought that the whole world would be menaced.
In regard to European affairs he said that the armanent conference at Geneva was at a standstill; they were now haggling over procedure. They could be brought to muster and agreement only if the Four-Power Pact, “my pact”, as he called it, were signed. The pact would give Europe 10 years of peace; would prevent the rearmament of Germany and give France the security she craved. Germany had signified her willingness to sign his original pact but this had now been altered by British and French suggestions and he did not yet know whether they would meet with Germany’s agreement. The British and French Ambassadors and the Italian Foreign Office had recently drawn up a formula based on the original draft and had recommended it to their respective Governments. It had also been sent to Berlin. If the four powers could not come together on this, war was inevitable. Germany had 800,000 trained soldiers in all but name. It was true that she had no bombing planes or tanks or big guns but such was the condition of her industry and her genius that 2 or 3 years of unrestricted armament would put her in position [Page 315] to go to war. Europe would be divided into two again. Only his pact could prevent this.
He was very gratified at the cordiality of Jung’s35 reception in America.
Not repeated elsewhere.
- Guido Jung, Italian Minister of Finance.↩