760c.60f/37: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in France (Wallace)
1305. In interview with British Ambassador today he informed me of the receipt from his Government of despatches showing concern regarding our position in settlement of Teschen question fearing that any delay caused by our suggested plan may have adverse effect and cause spread of Bolshevism in Poland. Department would like your views as to what if any effect proposed settlement of Teschen boundaries would have on Poland going Bolshevist. Ambassador further stated his Government hoped we would not maintain any position which would delay settlement of this perplexing question. I explained to him that his despatches were undoubtedly sent without full knowledge of our position which had been more clearly defined in Department’s 1302 to you July 26, 7 p.m. He also stated there had been no desire or intention not to consult this Government, [Page 61] but that as we were not represented at Spa where it seemed necessary to take immediate action, it had been impossible to consult this Government. I explained to him that as to the inability to consult this Government, this Teschen question was taken out of hands of the Council of Ambassadors to be taken up at the meeting of the Supreme Council at Brussels, in spite of your calling attention to the fact that this Government would not be represented at Brussels. In spite of this, however, our desire had been to facilitate rather than impede the settlement and that in our cable of July 26 to you we had in substance instructed that after explaining the principles and position of this Government, you should acquiesce in the proposed arrangement subject to the changes if any made by the boundary committee to be named by the Council as explained in our instructions to you. I furthermore pointed out that as the decisions of the Council would probably be unsatisfactory to both Poland and Czechoslovakia, the shock produced in these two countries would be less sharp if at the same time the provisional boundary is announced it were explained that this boundary is the basis of settlement and subject to such changes as the Boundary Commission determines as just and practicable. I think the British Ambassador finally realized that our suggestion in no way impedes a prompt settlement of this question, but that the suggestion of the Department for the boundary committee is decidedly a constructive suggestion.