600.0031 World Program/3
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Straus)
Sir: There is enclosed herewith for your strictly confidential information, to be shown only to such members of your staff as you may select within your discretion, a copy of a memorandum of a conversation1 which I recently had with a Chief of Mission here in Washington. Although the declarations which I set forth were illustrated by problems existing between the two governments concerned, in my opinion the principles and program enunciated are generally fundamental to all negotiations necessary for the normal restoration of the international finance and commerce of the world.
In stressing these principles it was my purpose to suggest a higher plane than the narrow national and international political considerations which have been brought forward by certain nations to justify the extreme steps taken in the economic and financial field. Experience in recent years has clearly established that, when such narrow and momentary political considerations are used in this manner, efforts to establish commerce between nations on broad, sound, and forward-looking grounds are all too likely to end in failure. Consequently, the principles which I stated in my conversation in question refer solely to the economic aspects of multilateral trade and it is my belief that the general application of these principles will result in (1) The restoration of international commerce, tending to stabilize relations among nations; (2) The re-employment of millions of unemployed persons throughout the world; and (3) The establishment of a sound foundation for building a permanent structure of world peace.
The purposes of this government’s liberalized policy is to restore the equality of commercial and industrial rights and to reestablish fair methods of trade relations in lieu of the existing network of trade barriers which keep the operations of international commerce and finance down to a minimum. The fulfillment of these purposes [Page 487] offers a secure foundation on which to build a permanent structure for peaceful international relations.
There is every indication that if the acute conditions of the depression are permitted to remain static, many millions of the unemployed will be absorbed in military undertakings, unless these conditions are dealt with firmly during coming months. It is my hope, therefore, that the program sponsored by this government will be espoused by an ever increasing number of countries, especially industrial countries, to restore commerce, finance and employment.
For one and one-half years we have been proceeding on a broad program of trade recovery on the basis of equality. If this movement, which is supremely vital to the national life and safety of the important countries of Europe, is not now given support by countries like Great Britain and France, Europe and the world will be doomed to the chaotic discriminatory bilateral bartering and bargaining trade methods with the disastrous results already well known to experience.
I trust that you will lose no opportunity to explain the purposes of this government to the responsible officers of the government to which you are accredited and that you will report to me from time to time any reaction to the views as herein expressed.
Very truly yours,
[Similar instructions were sent on March 11, 1936, to the American diplomatic missions in the following countries with which trade agreements either were being or had been negotiated: Belgium, Canada, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
Similar instructions were sent on March 30, 1936, to the American diplomatic missions in the other American Republics with certain modifications in the final paragraph regarding procedural method in bringing the subject matter of the instruction and its enclosure to the attention of the appropriate officials of the Governments under reference.
Copies of the instruction and its enclosure were likewise transmitted on March 11, 1936, to the Consulate General at Sydney, Australia, and to the American diplomatic missions in the following countries with which trade agreement negotiations had not been initiated: Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Rumania, Siam, Turkey, Union of South Africa, and Yugoslavia. These missions were authorized to use this information “to explain, orally and informally and acting as without express instruction, to the appropriate responsible officials of the Government to which you are accredited the principles and program set forth therein. You should not associate the explanation with any immediate purpose on the part of this Government [Page 488] to initiate trade agreement negotiations with the Government to which you are accredited.” (600.0031 World Program/2)
Copies of the memorandum of conversation and its covering instruction were also sent on March 11, 1936, to the American Embassies in Germany and Italy, and on March 20 to the Embassy in the Soviet Union in order to inform those missions of the action being taken by the Government of the United States to further the trade agreements program.]