765.84/4750: Telegram
The Chargé in Italy (Kirk) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 30—9:40 a.m.]
242. My 240, June 29, 4 p.m.91 I was shown this morning at the Foreign Office a copy of the communication92 which is to be presented to the President of the Assembly at Geneva and was informed that it is to be regarded as absolutely confidential until made public in Geneva. I was told that the Embassy would be furnished tomorrow with a copy of this document with annexes and in the meantime I submit the following brief summary of the memorandum for the Department’s confidential information pending the release of the document:
After referring to the circumstances which preceded and determined Italian action in Abyssinia and outlining as indicative of the Italian attitude toward the League the various attempts to negotiate a settlement which culminated in an effort on the part of Italy, announced for the first time in this document, to establish at Athens and Djibouti confidential contacts with the Ethiopian Government 2 weeks before the flight of the Negus, the memorandum describes the situation immediately following the collapse of the Ethiopian Government which necessitated Italy to accept the responsibilities resulting therefrom. [Page 174] It then describes the general conditions in Ethiopia as well as the causes of the collapse of the former Government and following an account of the subsequent acts of cooperation with the Italian authorities of the religious and civil chiefs and of submission on the part of military chiefs tending towards resumption of normal life in the country, the memorandum states that Italy has pledged herself to establish peace in Ethiopia and promote the moral and material welfare of the country. The memorandum then declares that Italy regards its work in Ethiopia as a sacred mission of civilization and pledging itself to carry out that work in accordance with the principles of the Covenant of the League of Nations and of other international acts describing the duties of a nation so pledged. To that end Italy promises the equitable treatment of the native population with due rights of representation, the respect of religious worship, the free use of native languages, the suppression of slavery and forced labor, the use of taxes for local requirements and accepts the principle that natives should not be compelled to military service except for police purposes and the defense of the territory. Italy also guarantees freedom of transit and communication, the fair treatment of the trade of all countries and agrees to keep the League informed of the work in Ethiopia.
The memorandum then states that Italy is ready to cooperate with the League for a settlement of the problems on whose authority the future of Europe and the world depends and states that it was in that spirit that Italy joined the Treaty of Rio de Janeiro of October 10, 1933.94 After declaring that Italy is convinced that the reform of the League is required and that the Italian Government makes no reservation as to the means that may be adopted to solve the problems relating to the future, the communication concludes with the statement that the Italian Government cannot but recall the abnormal situation in which Italy has been placed and the necessity for the immediate removal of such obstacles as have been and are in the way of the international cooperation which Italy seeks and to which she is prepared to give a tangible contribution.