611.5431/270
Memorandum by the Secretary of State
The Swiss Minister called on his own request and proceeded to launch an earnest plea for additional concessions on watches, cheese and lace in particular. I listened to him with interest and at the end of his plea I did not undertake to discuss the merits of the particular commodity rates to which he referred. I said that it was not a question of what we might or might not do in connection with the trade agreement under other circumstances; that we had just concluded the Canadian Agreement30 and, speaking confidentially, every effort by the lobbies and many politicians was being made to organize a political movement against that Agreement; that we could only move so fast with the trade agreements—glad and anxious as we would be to move faster in many or most instances, and that the Swiss Agreement was one of these. I finally stated to him that I had not conferred with Dr. Grady and other associates of mine, dealing with this matter, for many days on account of other engrossments, but that I would be glad to confer with them and call their attention to what the Minister said and to ascertain their viewpoint. I again repeated, however, the extreme difficulties which the Minister would recognize confronted us from the political standpoint.