611.4131/156
Memorandum by the Special Assistant to the Secretary of State and Chief of the Division of Western European Affairs (Dunn)
Referring to the Secretary’s telegram 103 of March 28, 2 p.m., to the Embassy in London, pursuant to the Secretary’s instructions I delivered to the British Ambassador on March 28 a copy of the memorandum embodied in the telegram to London and a copy of the memorandum which accompanied the Secretary’s instruction No. 1130 of February 13, 1936 to the Embassy in London.
In transmitting these memoranda, I called the Ambassador’s attention to the fact that it was the Secretary’s particular wish that this question of the attitude of the British Government, toward a broad trade program looking to the restoration of international trade, not become involved in technical discussions as to exact methods of its execution. I called the Ambassador’s particular attention to the second paragraph of the Secretary’s memorandum of March 28th which points out that an announcement by the British Government of the initiation of a broad trade program similar to that now being pursued by the United States under the Trade Agreement Act would not obligate the British Government to any immediate or specific steps, but would have the effect of giving assurance generally that it was the intention of the British Government to carry out such a program. I said that the Secretary would not wish to have the technicians in the British Government pick out any particular questions that might come up in the execution of a program of this kind, nor should they take the attitude of seeking to lay stress on any particular phase which would require intensive study and decisions before the plan could be put into effect. I again laid stress on the fact that there were no immediate obligatory or final binding steps to be taken with regard to such matters as stabilization, et cetera. These were all questions which could be taken up in due time and when some possibility of their solution [Page 650] could be foreseen; that what the Secretary had in mind at this time was a general declaration of intention and policy.
The British Ambassador expressed himself as very much relieved to know that no particular steps were intended for adoption at this particular time and said that he hoped the whole matter would be kept on a plane of policy and declaration until such times as the different phases could be successfully dealt with. He said that he would make every effort to explain the matter again to his Government particularly along the lines of the Secretary’s new memorandum and hoped that from the policy viewpoint it could be accepted and put into effect by his Government.