765.84/3198: Telegram
The Chargé in Ethiopia (Engert) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 20—2:40 p.m.]
240. My 235, December 16, 2 p.m. Official Ethiopian reply will be handed to British and French Ministers tomorrow. In the meantime Emperor at Dessie has issued following statement “We desire to state with all the solemnity and firmness which the situation demands today that our willingness to facilitate any pacific solution of this conflict has not changed but that the act by us of accepting even in principle the Franco-British proposals would be not only a cowardice toward our people but a betrayal of the League of Nations and of all the states which have thought that they could have confidence up to now in the system of collective security. These proposals are the negation and the abandonment of the principles upon which the League of Nations is founded; for Ethiopia they would consecrate the amputation of her territory and the disappearance of her independence for the benefit of the state which has attacked her. They imply the definite interdiction for her own people to participate usefully and freely in the economic development of about a third of the country and to confide this development to her enemy who is now making his second attempt to conquer this people. A settlement on the basis of these proposals would place a premium upon aggression and upon the violation of international engagements. The vital interest of Ethiopia is in question and for us this takes precedence over every other consideration. But in reaching our decision we are not unmindful that the security of other peaceful weak or small states will be made doubtful if such a recompense should be accorded to a state already condemned as the aggressor and at the expense of the state victim of its aggression.”