500.A15A4 General Committee/963: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis)
426. Mowrer has just cabled a story from Paris in which, with reference to yesterday’s Bureau meeting, he states that Washington, in your person, found itself seeing eye to eye with the British for the nth time. In elaborating on this purported Anglo-American cooperation, he makes the following statements:
“The American Delegation denies this charge. It has stated that it is not in the tow of the British; it just happens that the American views and interests at this Conference coincide with those of Great Britain. On each question, explain the Americans, they vote independently, but if the fundamental views are alike, it is inevitable that the votes will also be alike.
Pushed hard, the American Delegates will, however, go somewhat further. They admit that ‘it is part of our policy to follow the British where possible in European matters.’ Sometimes, they state, they expect the British support in the Pacific as a result of American support of Great Britain in the Atlantic. Grudgingly, perhaps, they concede that so far this British support has not been very obvious. But ‘just have confidence in the British and all will be well,’ they insist …5
This deference to London awakens in all other European capitals, except Rome, which also steadily defers to London, the greatest suspicion and animosity. The French accuse the American policy of being steadily and persistently anti-French, even in matters which do not concern the United States, as, for instance, Italy’s claim to Naval parity with France.…5
It may be natural that the State Department is correct in assuming that the United States can best serve itself by following Great Britain, or again it may be that it is this policy which is responsible for the relative insignificance of American influence in the world’s councils and the general suspicion outside of London towards American initiatives. [Page 107] But, in any case, the American people should know that it is being directed in a policy which throughout the world gives them the reputation rather of serving the interests of the British balance-of-power policy than of American ideals of peace and democracy.”
At this afternoon’s press conference, I pointed out, for background purposes, that this Government has no occasion, so far as political or disarmament matters are concerned, to have any alignment with any other nation. I explained that it might happen that momentarily the American viewpoint would coincide with the views of one or more other countries but I was entirely at a loss to account for reports or rumors such as the one from Paris.
So far as this particular report is concerned, I informed the correspondents that on May 31 you reported on the general disarmament situation at which time you emphatically stated that it was advisable for you to remain impartial. On June 3 the State Department had given its approval to your stand.
I then read the last sentence of your 872, June 5, 4 p.m.