740.0011 Mutual Guarantee (Locarno)/602
The Minister in Switzerland (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 10.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to press reports concerning the meeting which took place in London last week of the representatives of the Scandinavian nations and of Holland, Spain and Switzerland, concerning their position with respect to the situation caused by the military reoccupation of the Rhineland by Germany. This meeting was given considerable publicity, although it really was not so extraordinary, since for some time past at Geneva, during meetings of the League Council, the representatives of these same countries have very often met in order to exchange information and clarify their respective positions with regard to whatever matter might be under discussion.
The basic reason for these meetings was that very often the representatives of these smaller countries were not kept informed by the great powers of what the League Council was doing, and also, in order to protect themselves, it was necessary that they form a common front.
At the London meeting they decided that those powers which were not signatories of the Versailles Treaty or the Locarno Pacts, but which were members of the League, had no responsibilities in the present situation. I am informed by the Federal Political Department that it instructed the Swiss Minister in London, Mr. Paravicini, that he could attend such meetings as observer, but, in order to protect Swiss neutrality, was not to commit himself in any way.
As I reported to the Department in my confidential despatches Nos. 430325 and 430426 of March 21 last, the position of the Swiss Government is that it is under no legal obligation to take any action in the present situation.
I am informed by Mr. Westman, Swedish Minister here, that during one of the private meetings of the Council of the League of Nations at Geneva in 1925, when the Locarno Pacts were being discussed, Dr. Beneš, at that time Delegate on the Council for Czechoslovakia, stated that the members of the League, although nonsignatories of the Locarno Pacts, nevertheless also had a certain responsibility under them. The Swedish representative at once made a statement that his Government had no responsibility with regard to the Locarno Pacts, since it was not a signatory of them. As these statements were made in a private meeting of the Council, there is [Page 271] no record of them. However, it is a statement of policy which was enunciated at that time and reaffirmed in the present crisis.
Respectfully yours,
Secretary of Legation