793.94/4132: Telegram
The Minister in Switzerland (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
18. Drummond requested me to call this afternoon and stated that his obligations under article 15 provided for the submission by him to the Council of a report using all available material. He asked whether it would be embarrassing to you if he wrote me a letter stating that in the preparation of this report he would be grateful for any material which the American Government could supply which might throw light on the situation. Of course, he added, it would be better still from his point of view if the American Government were willing to furnish a memorandum for the information of the Council as to the events both military and diplomatic which have taken place.
I would appreciate being informed of the answer you would desire me to make to Drummond in this connection.
Drummond then discussed informally and confidentially the next procedure. He was turning over in his mind the possibility of summoning the Assembly which, since the Disarmament Conference is now sitting, would be simple to do mechanically. One could not be sure that this would not turn into a public condemnation of Japan but he thought that this danger might be avoided by careful preparation.
He was also considering whether it would be advisable for the Council to make an appeal to Japan pointing out that Japan’s force was incontestably greater than that of China and appealing to it in the interests of peace, justice and chivalry not to utilize this force. There seemed to be some thought in Drummond’s mind that this action might have a favorable effect on the Japanese elections on February 20th.
He then discussed, but not as if he were contemplating action thereon, the possibility of economic sanctions. He pointed out that there was a legal difficulty in that under the Covenant economic sanctions are provided for only in case of an outbreak of war and not as one of the measures in prevention thereof. Even if one could avoid [Page 286] this difficulty, there remained the grave question of whether Japan would not reply to the severance of economic relations either by a general declaration of war against all powers involved or by the establishment of a blockade of Chinese ports which in turn led to a grave risk of war.
There are signs of a growing desire to have the Council make a categorical indorsement of our note of January 7. If you feel that it would be advantageous to have that or other action taken it would seem probable that our influence, carefully exerted at this time, would contribute to aid the Council members to come out of their present bewilderment with definite action.
- Telegram in two sections.↩