862.00/3303
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The German Chargé d’Affaires, Dr. Leitner, called and stated that, without his government having instructed him to do so but acting on his own initiative, he felt it his duty to call attention to the personal criticisms and condemnation of certain officials and actions of the German Government, including the German Chancellor, relating to the alleged shooting of a number of German citizens by direction of the highest authorities of the German Government during the recent so-called uprising or attempted second revolution. Dr. Leitner said that it was his duty in the name of his government to protest very earnestly and strongly against such actions and utterances of a high official of the United States Government; that such criticisms upon the internal affairs and highest officials of another government could not be justified and were absolutely destructive of all efforts to preserve [Page 239] understanding and friendly relations between the two governments; that he earnestly condemned such utterances and again protested against them in the name of his government; and he requested that the United States Government take notice of these utterances of General Hugh S. Johnson28 and offer suitable expressions and comment relative to them. Dr. Leitner showed me a copy of a statement by Secretary of State Stimson in January, 1931, expressing regret at the criticisms of Smedley Butler upon a high Italian official.29
I stated in reply that having been very busy this morning with emergency duties, I had not had time to read the Johnson speech; that I would take the matter up and give it all due attention, including every phase of this complaint.
He thereupon retired, stating that he would give out nothing to the press in the meantime and that he had not thus far done so.
At one time during his visit, Dr. Leitner turned to the New York Times report of a statement by General Johnson to the effect that these were his individual views and that he was not afraid of being called down by the State Department. This latter phase was emphasized by Dr. Leitner as aggravating the situation.
- Administrator of the National Recovery Administration.↩
- Foreign Relations, 1931, vol. ii, p. 641.↩