Foreign Relations of the United States Diplomatic Papers, 1937, General, Volume I

561.35E1/276: Telegram

The Chairman of the American Delegation (Davis) to the Secretary of State

London, April 5, 1937—8 p.m.
[Received April 5—5:48 p.m.]

7. The Conference was opened by MacDonald¹⁰ as President at 11 a.m. today. Ormsby-Gore¹¹ was elected Vice President and will preside at future meetings. A steering committee¹² was appointed consisting of the President and the Vice President of the Conference and the chief delegates from France, Germany, Poland, Cuba, the United States, Czechoslovakia, Australia, Netherlands, and the President of the International Sugar Committee. It was agreed that future meetings should be closed to the press and all publicity should be handled by the Press Bureau of the Secretariat.

At the first meeting of the steering committee this afternoon a statistical committee of seven experts including Hutson was appointed. At the plenary session this afternoon, which was closed to the press, Buencamino and I made statements as modified by the Department.¹³ Five other delegations made general statements of position.

Davis

10. J. Ramsay MacDonald, British Lord President of the Council.
11. W. G. A. Ormsby-Gore, British Secretary of State for the Colonies.
12. Otherwise referred to as the “Bureau”.
13. See Proceedings and Documents of the Conference, pp. 29 and 33.