811.0141 Phoenix Group/32
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of European Affairs (Moffat)
| Participants: | The British Ambassador, |
| Mr. Moore, | |
| Mr. Moffat. |
Mr. Moore said that he had requested Sir Ronald Lindsay to come down in order to discuss once again the question of the Pacific Islands. He reminded Sir Ronald that despite frequent conversations nothing had transpired since we made our standstill proposal on August 9 last. The Ambassador said that he was aware of this but the trouble lay in New Zealand, and that the only intimation that he had received from London quite a while back was to the effect that matters were moving very slowly. Mr. Moore pointed out that in the British note of October 2078 they had specifically excepted Canton Island and the other islands of the Phoenix group from the discussion, and Mr. Moffat called attention to the fact that the settlers were sent to Canton some three weeks after our proposal for a standstill had been made. [Page 80] Sir Ronald at once said that that was not quite fair as the expedition had been planned long in advance and the actual sailing date from New Zealand was of scant importance.
Sir Ronald then inquired whether or not we could withhold delivery of our note for another week or ten days while he telegraphed again. Mr. Moore replied that unfortunately we could not see our way to doing that, and handed the Ambassador the note.79 Sir Ronald read it over and remarked that “taking an Atoll away from New Zealand was as difficult as taking butter out of a dog’s mouth”. He remarked that there were plenty of islands available and he hoped that this would not cause any bad feelings, but the New Zealanders were “sore as pups”.
Mr. Moore pointed out that the President had had in the back of his mind an idea of joint occupancy. Sir Ronald said that he was well aware of that, and that it was just possible that some such proposal might be made. Mr. Moore asked if he had ever discussed the matter with the President. Sir Ronald said no, that he had seen him only twice since the matter arose and that he had not “been looking for trouble” by bringing it up, while the President had not raised the subject with him.