765.84/81: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Chargé in Ethiopia ( George )
22. Your 26, December 18, 10 a.m. The Department desires to learn the source of your information that the Emperor is contemplating [Page 770] requesting American mediation and any information you may be able discreetly to obtain as to the basis on which he would make his request. If it is on the basis of the Pact of Paris, it may be helpful for you to bear in mind that the Pact was last invoked by members of the Council of the League of Nations, who, on October 17, 1931,23 separately brought the attention of the Japanese and Chinese Governments to their obligations under the Pact in connection with the situation in Manchuria. It was only after this action was taken by the members of the Council that the United States addressed similar communications24 to the two Powers.
You should keep the Department fully informed of developments and scrupulously refrain from taking any action which would encourage the Ethiopian Government to request the mediation of the United States.
- See telegram No. 212, October 17, 1931, 9 p.m., from the Consul at Geneva, Foreign Relations, 1931, vol. iii, p. 224.↩
- See telegram No. 388, October 20, 1931, 2 p.m., to the Minister in China, ibid., p. 275.↩