611.4131/216
Memorandum by the American Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham) of a Conversation With the President of the British Board of Trade (Runciman), December 18, 193665
Upon the understanding that I might be going to see Mr. Hull some time early in the new year, Mr. Walter Runciman asked me to call [Page 703] upon him at the Board of Trade prior to his departure for the Christmas holidays. He said to me that in the preliminary conversations conducted by technical representatives of the British and American Governments with reference to the execution of a trade agreement, the American representatives had begun by making proposals which ran counter to the Ottawa Agreement to which the British Government was pledged. He said he had no word of criticism for our representatives but realized that they were active and enthusiastic, as no doubt the representatives of the British Government were. He stated, however, that while his Government could not go into an agreement which violated the terms of the Ottawa Agreement, he believed an agreement could be made between the British and American Governments along the lines of the agreement between the American and Canadian Governments. Not only did he believe this could be accomplished but he thought it ought to be accomplished. This is the most definite and concrete statement so far made by a responsible Government official here and expresses a deliberate conclusion after a long period beginning with opposition, advancing to doubt and hesitation and now arriving at a point which represents progress in the British attitude and very likely the limit to which the British Government will go at this time.
- Copy transmitted to the Department by the Ambassador in the United Kingdom in his despatch No. 2741, December 30, 1936; received January 12, 1937.↩