500.A15a4/674
Memorandum by the Secretary of State of a Conversation With the French Ambassador (Claudel)
During the call of the French Ambassador he told me he was instructed by his government to say that France had not consented to [Page 534] any postponement of the Disarmament Conference, but he said that Great Britain had made a démarche in favor of postponement to France, Poland, and Czechoslovakia; that when France refused to consent to a postponement, Lord Tyrrell suggested that there should be a short preliminary discussion in the Conference when it assembled and then afterwards the matters should be turned over to committees. The Ambassador said France had replied no, that she thought the general discussion should be rather long.
He said in the case of Poland, Great Britain had asked three questions:
- (1)
- If all the Powers agreed to a postponement, would Poland agree? To this Poland made the answer yes.
- (2)
- Would Poland be ready to take the initiative in seeking a postponement? To this Poland made the answer no.
- (3)
- Would Poland agree to an adjournment after a short session in order to turn over the discussion to committees? To this Poland had answered that it would seem rather normal after a period spent in general debate to turn over the matter to committees for investigation and discussion.
The Ambassador then asked me whether Great Britain had made any such démarche to us. When I said no, he told me he was rather surprised as he thought that she had. I said I was unaware of any.