550.AA1/23: Telegram
The Ambassador in Germany (Dodd) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 19—1:45 p.m.]
75. Mr. George Lansbury, member of Parliament and former British labor leader, had a two and a quarter hour conversation with Hitler this morning. Lansbury represented himself as being a [delegate of] the Fellowship of Reconciliation and submitted a memorandum to Hitler covering Italy’s “peace points”.
According to an American newspaper correspondent Lansbury gave out the following statement as agreed to and authorized by Hitler.
[Page 651]“Germany will be very willing to attend a conference and take part in a united effort to establish economic cooperation and mutual understanding between the nations of the world if President Roosevelt or the head of another great country will take the lead in calling such a conference”.
We will cable again after local comment and consideration may have clarified the matter further.