841.001 George VI/284½
Memorandum by the Under Secretary of State (Welles) of a Conversation With the British Ambassador (Lindsay)
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The Ambassador told me the President had said to him yesterday that he did not mean to retain Ambassador Wilson in this country for an indefinite period but that he would remain here only a reasonable time. Sir Ronald expressed great concern because of the summons sent Ambassador Dieckhoff by the German Government to return to Berlin, and said he earnestly hoped this would not make Mr. Wilson’s return to Berlin less likely. Sir Ronald said that he felt it had already proved to be of the utmost value for the United States to be able to make its voice heard in Berlin, and that it worried him exceedingly lest the absence of the two Ambassadors from their respective posts should continue for any extended period.
I limited myself to replying that it seemed to me the steps which had been taken might prove useful, and that I hoped as a result thereof in the next weeks the German Government might indicate some evidence of a desire to cooperate with the other nations of the world and thus make it easier to try and approach a return to more normal relations between Germany and the United States. I said I had been struck with the newspaper comment in the German press with regard to the British-American trade agreement,63 and that I thought perhaps this agreement might prove a powerful incentive for a more civilized conduct on the part of Germany and for a more accurate [Page 403] appreciation on her part of the need for Germany to undertake a radical change in her foreign policy as well. I said that it seemed to me premature for this Government to attempt to reach any decision on the question he raised, and that we would necessarily have to be guided by what Germany herself did during the coming weeks.
The Ambassador told me that he intended to take a long deferred vacation in his own country and that he would probably sail in about two weeks’ time.