710.G Economic and Financial Problems/16: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Hull) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received December 18—4:45 p.m.]
67. For Phillips and the President. Mr. Braden40 informs me that Dr. Puig expects to present at a plenary session of the Fourth Commission 11 a.m. Tuesday, December 19, the following resolution:
“The Seventh International Conference of American States
Resolves: to recommend to the governments members of the Pan American Union that they recognize:
- (1)
- The existing crisis requires that governments should consider measures designed to correct the abnormal depression of prices thereby promoting healthy and sustained economic activity and employment.
- (2)
- Particular heed should be given to the improvement of prices of those products, mainly foodstuffs and raw materials, which have suffered the most severe decline in order that the various parts of our economic life be again brought into proper and sustained equilibrium with each other.
- (3)
- The choice of the actual measures to be employed must be left to the discretion of each country concerned. It is important, however, that the measures employed should in each case be adequate to convince that the objectives will be attained.
- (4)
- The Governments of the American States should endeavor to stabilize their currencies at the earliest moment consonant with their own internal price policies and programs and, furthermore, should stabilize on units of currency that shall be firm and of fixed value over long periods of time insofar as their purchasing and debt-paying power is concerned.”
Mr. Braden asks whether we may be empowered to give it our approval. He also suggests and requests authority to make a short statement bringing out the fact that it is impossible for the United States at this time to say when it will be possible to discuss currency stabilization and other related topics having to do with financial and economic matters. The following is a question from a memorandum by Mr. Braden on the source of the statement he would wish to make.
“I believe this is important as otherwise the various nations at this Conference will leave here feeling that within a few months we will be ready to so discuss these matters and our failure to appear at the Third Pan American [Financial?] Conference with definite plans and ready to discuss all these phases of the matter would largely destroy the good effects which are being obtained from this Seventh Conference. It would be my idea to simply point out in some detail the depths of depression which the United States reached on March 3, a fact with which most of the Latin Americans are unfamiliar, and their being acquainted with these facts would make them understand why we would prefer to have the Santiago Conference deferred for an indefinite time. It might also be well to quote President Roosevelt’s radio address of October 2241 on monetary matters with particular reference to our moving towards a managed currency and to briefly outline as purely personal what steps have been taken in this particular. Such a statement by me would not only still further convince our Latin American friends that the Santiago Conference should be deferred indefinitely but it also might bring forth praise and support of our whole monetary program and thereby prove generally beneficial. We can include in such a statement reference to the improvement already attained in the United States and to the fact that the principal countries of South America are deriving benefit from the Roosevelt program, as evidenced by the greatly increased exports from these countries to the United States from June forward, in other words, since the new administration’s program really became effective.”
I would be grateful for your views on this matter and to receive a telegram in regard thereto before tomorrow morning’s session.