500.A15A5/719: Telegram
The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State
[Received March 13—10:10 p.m.]
138. Personal for the President and the Secretary. Supplementing my 137, March 13, 6 p.m. There is a division of opinion among the British as to the advisability of signing a treaty now. It is generally believed that a three-power naval treaty must be paralleled by a supplementary bilateral treaty with Germany. One group, however, wishes [Page 92] to delay signature of the three-power treaty because they feel that to sign a new treaty with Germany now in the face of Germany’s denunciation of the Locarno Pact and before the crisis created thereby has passed would be politically impossible or at least dangerous. The other group holds that the treaty should be signed now but that signature of the bilateral treaty to which Germany has consented should be postponed until a more propitious time. This latter group also contends that if we do not sign a three-power treaty now there is little chance of its being ratified before the end of this year which they feel is most important and that if it is not possible before the end of the year to sign a treaty with Germany it will mean that the situation will have so deteriorated that no treaty of any sort has any prospect of coming into force. While the outcome is uncertain it is more probable that the opinion of the first group will prevail.
If England and France should decide that it is advisable to initial a draft treaty now to be signed at a later fixed date there will be no difficulty or embarrassment. On the other hand if they should advocate signing now and we should propose that the treaty be initialed and signature postponed it seems to me that it would be difficult to explain at home and here why we were willing to initial a treaty which we were not willing to sign. It might in such event cause less trouble if we were to sign and then, if you do not think it advisable, to present it now, to withhold it on the ground that you wish to study it further and to await the clarification of the international situation before determining whether or not to present the treaty to the Senate for ratification. If Congress is to adjourn by May 1, it would seem to me that in view of the shortness of the time which they would have in which to pass on it you would be justified in withholding it.