500.A15A5/272: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received November 21—5:25 p.m.]
47. I have obtained confidentially through a reliable source the following information which, however, I have not as yet been able officially to confirm.
Neville Chamberlain, head of the group which has been in favor of a conciliatory policy towards Japan, has come to the conclusion that Great Britain should make no agreement with Japan to which the United States is not a party, that Anglo-American cooperation is a [Page 359] vital necessity to world peace and stability, that the Japanese are bluffing and that if and when it is necessary to call that bluff the United States and England should unhesitatingly do so together. Also, that Chamberlain, Simon and others, believe that one of the chief purposes of the Japanese in denouncing the Washington Treaty is to get free from the restrictions on non-fortification in certain areas. This view, however, is contradicted by recent indications from press and other sources that the Japanese are desirous of retaining the non-fortification provision of the Washington Treaty.
One thing which the British are having to take into consideration is that Australia, who now has a favorable arrangement with Japan for the disposal of her wool surplus, is anxious to avoid anything which would upset this arrangement. On the other hand, I am informed that in a secret meeting of the High Commissioners of Australia,1 Canada,2 and New Zealand3 with Simon, attended by Smuts4 a week ago, the unanimous opinion was that cooperation with the United States as Smuts had advocated in his recent speech must be the cardinal policy of the British Empire.