811.79690 Pan American Airways/73
Memorandum by the Assistant Chief of the Division of Protocol and Conferences (Holmes)
The other evening at a dinner party, I had an opportunity to discuss personally and quite unofficially with Mr. Mallet, the British Chargé d’Affaires, the British Ambassador’s note of July 11, 1936, No. 213, with regard to the granting to Pan American Airways Company permission to operate an air service into, through, and away from the colony of Hong Kong.
I told Mr. Mallet that I did not quite understand the British note, in that it was not clear to me personally whether they were simply notifying us of the terms on which they had granted permission to [Page 644] Pan American Airways or whether they were asking us to agree to the extension of automatic facilities in the event that we should grant rights to some third power to fly over the transpacific route during the period of five years covered by the permit to be issued by the Governor of Hong Kong to Pan American Airways. Mr. Mallet said that he would look into it and let me know. He called me the next day to say that he had studied the matter thoroughly and that the purpose of the British in sending the note was simply to notify us of their understanding with Pan American Airways. He said categorically that they were not asking us for commitment now, they only wanted us to understand that if, during the period of five years covered by the permit to Pan American Airways, we should grant flying facilities to some third power and decline a British request for reciprocal privileges, the permit of Pan American Airways would be cancelled.