765.84/533a: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Germany (Dodd)
49. On July 11, the Secretary called the British and French Ambassadors to the Department and informed them that his attention had been called to articles in certain sections of the press recently to the effect that in certain foreign opinion the Briand-Kellogg Pact is dead owing to the “brusque refusal of the American Government to invoke that Pact to prevent the Italo-Abyssinian conflict from developing into an open war.” The Secretary stated that he felt that impression to be entirely contrary to the sense of our note to the Emperor which emphasized the principles of the Pact of Paris and gave evidence of our interest in the settlement of this dispute by peaceable means.
Yesterday evening the Secretary issued the following statement to newspaper correspondents
“The Pact of Paris is no less binding now than when it was entered into by the sixty-three nations that are parties to it. By form and designation it constitutes a treaty by and among those nations.
“It is a declaration by the Governments of the world that they condemn recourse to war for solution of international controversies and renounce it as an instrument of national policy in their relations with one another.
“Furthermore, it is an agreement and a solemn obligation that the settlement or solution of all disputes or conflicts among nations of whatever nature or of whatever origin shall never be stopped except by pacific means.
“The United States and the other nations are interested in the maintenance of the Pact and the sanctity of the international commitments assumed thereby for the promotion and maintenance of peace among the nations of the world.”
The Ambassadors at London and Paris have been informed of these steps and requested to report currently on developments in their respective countries in connection with this situation. Please also give us any information you may consider of value in the premises.
Repeat to Geneva.