Office of the Historian

611.5531/728: Telegram

The Chargé in Belgium (Tuck) to the Secretary of State

Brussels, February 2, 1938—5 p.m.
[Received February 2—12:40 p.m.]

15. Department’s 4, January 13, 8 p.m., and Embassy’s telegram 4, January 14, 1 p.m.4 Foreign Office now informs me that the preparation of a counter-draft of 2 or 3 articles in the United States standard draft of comprehensive general provisions, taking into careful consideration the Department’s proposals, is in the course of preparation [Page 205] but as the conclusions and opinions of certain Ministries and more particularly of the Inter-Ministerial Committee are still to be obtained this work cannot be completed for about another month.

Since the Foreign Office has been told that the Department does not wish to change the place of negotiation it proposes to forward the counter-draft when completed to the Belgian Embassy in Washington for presentation to the Department.

I am also told that every consideration is being given to the points embodied in the Memorandum which I left with the Director of the Commercial Section in November and that the Foreign Office is as anxious as the Department to avoid reaching an impasse in the matter.

Tuck
  1. Latter not printed.↩