Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1937, The American Republics, Volume V

810.34 Leasing/2a: Circular telegram

The Secretary of State to the Diplomatic Missions in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, Uruguay, and Venezuela

Washington , August 9, 1937—6 p.m.

At the request of the Administration there was introduced in the Senate on Saturday a joint resolution worded as follows:

“That the President of the United States be, and he is hereby authorized, upon application from the foreign governments concerned, and whenever in his discretion the public interests render such a course advisable, to lease destroyers to the governments of the American republics under such terms and conditions as he may prescribe.”

In order to avoid any possible misinterpretation of the scope and intent of this suggested resolution, the Department desires you to obtain immediately an interview with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and advise him as follows:

1. That as will be seen from the text of this pending resolution, the Government of the United States, should the powers requested be granted by the Congress to the President, will make available on equal terms to all of the American republics possessing naval forces the facilities referred to in this resolution should they desire to avail themselves of them.

2. That should any contract be entered into by the United States with any American republic providing for the lease of destroyers for training purposes, the contract will contain a recapture clause making it possible for the United States at any moment to obtain the return of the destroyers so leased. Upon the signature of such contract the United States will declare it to be its policy that it will in accordance with the provisions of such clause request the immediate return of such vessels in the event that hostilities should break out between the republic leasing such destroyers and any foreign government with which the United States is at peace. This Government will further announce as its policy that it will request the return of the destroyers leased in the contingency that the continued use of such destroyers by the Government leasing them would in any other way be contrary to the domestic neutrality legislation or the international obligations of the United States.

3. In view of the stipulations as set forth in point 2, the United States does not consider that the lease of destroyers as provided for in the pending resolution would be in contravention of the Naval Treaty of London.² It intends, however, before entering into any contract with an American republic for the rental of destroyers to communicate its intentions to the other signatories of the London Naval Treaty in order that it may communicate to them its view that such arrangement would contravene neither the spirit nor the letter of this Treaty.

Inasmuch as the press has carried stories relating to the pending resolution which would give the impression that the Government of the United States is solely interested in leasing destroyers to Brazil and since this erroneous version may readily give rise to a misconception of the policy of this Government, you are requested to make entirely clear the points above set forth to the Government to which you are accredited at the earliest opportunity. It is desired that you telegraph any statements which may be made to you by the Minister for Foreign Affairs with regard thereto.³

Hull

2. Signed at London, March 25, 1936, Department of State Treaty Series No. 919, or 50 Stat. 1363; for correspondence on the London Naval Conference, see Foreign Relations, 1936, vol. i, pp. 22 ff.
3. Replies to this circular telegram and to that of August 12, 6 p.m., p. 157, which are not printed here, indicated that the respective Governments either did not object to the proposed lease of destroyers or did not consider it a matter which concerned them.