800.796/10–2144
Memorandum by the Assistant Secretary of State (Berle), of a Conversation With the Danish Minister (Kauffmann)
Following a discussion of the Danish shipping compensation, I said I wished to talk for a moment about aviation. The British had taken the position, as set forth in their White Paper, that nothing should be done in the way of routes, etc., unless an international body was endowed with power to determine rates, frequencies, routes, etc. This was a proposition which we simply could not accept and the British knew this perfectly well. From our point of view indeed it was absurd to expect us or any other country to hand over a vital interest like air routes to an international body when no rules of law or principles or other arrangements had been suggested, and when apparently such a body would be composed of representatives of countries looking out for their own national interests and nothing else.
The Minister inquired whether I thought he ought to say anything on the subject at Chicago. I said there was no reason in the world why he should not, especially if his other Scandinavian colleagues were of like mind. My impression was that the Swedes agreed entirely with it, and I thought the Norwegians did too. The Minister said he was very clear that the Danish point of view did agree with ours.