793.94 Conference/161
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Welles) of a Trans-Atlantic Telephone Conversation With the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Bingham)
Mr. Welles: We are very much concerned by both Associated Press and United Press reports of Mr. Eden’s speech in the House of Commons today. He is alleged to have said that the United States took the initiative in convoking the Nine-Power Conference. As you know, the facts in the matter were that on October 6 the British Embassy here, by instruction of the British Government, gave us an aide-mémoire in which the following statements were made. It referred in the beginning to the action taken by the Advisory Committee of the League which expressed the hope that the other states having special interests in the Far East would be associated with the states who are members of the League in consultation in accordance with the Nine-Power Treaty. Further on in that same memorandum it was stated, I quote, among the points to be considered is the question as to how those invitations should be issued, what form they should take, and where a conference, which is in the view of His Majesty’s Government clearly necessary, should take place, end of quotation.
Mr. Bingham: Eden has left for Brussels and the evening papers contain no such statement. I cannot tell definitely whether or not these reports are correct because we won’t see them until tomorrow morning.
Mr. Welles: The difficulty is, however, that it is obviously very undesirable that our morning papers should carry a statement of that character. Let me remind you of another thing also in that connection—
Mr. Bingham: It is now a quarter to ten here and the evening papers that I have looked over say nothing about that and the actual report would be in the Times and the Telegram tomorrow morning.
Mr. Welles: That does not solve our difficulty here. We do not want our morning papers here to carry a statement of that character.
Mr. Bingham: I understand. I will go to work on that immediately and see whether or not that report is correct or incorrect and will get word to you as soon as I can.
Mr. Welles: Let me make this further statement—
[Page 139]Mr. Bingham: Are you in New York?
Mr. Welles: I am in my office at Washington.
Mr. Bingham: I will get a message to you there.
Mr. Welles: I want to make another statement to you. I want to remind you that the invitation of the Belgian Government specifically states “At the request of the British Government and with the approval of the Government of the United States, the Royal Belgian Government proposes the meeting at Brussels” et cetera. I have just been talking to the President and he feels that you should obtain a correction, or at least a clarification, if the reports are untrue, so that our press here will not carry any statements of the character which I have read in the morning papers. If Mr. Eden has left perhaps Vansittart55 could do that.
Mr. Bingham: Eden has already left but I will try to obtain a correction of that statement and communicate with you as soon as possible. It is a little more difficult at this time of night here but at any rate I will get the whole staff going and will report to you as promptly as we can.
- Sir Robert G. Vansittart, British Permanent Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.↩