500.A15A4 General Committee/343: Telegram
The American Delegate (Wilson) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 8—2:15 p.m.]
631. At the Bureau meeting this morning Henderson proposed the following three alternative methods of procedure for the further work of the General Commission: [Page 130]
- 1.
- To begin again with the question of security (part I of the MacDonald draft).
- 2.
- To reread part II, section I (effectives).
- 3.
- To proceed with the first reading of part II, section II (material).
He explained that the American delegation had indicated it was not yet prepared to discuss part I and that therefore the choice probably lay between the two other methods.
In advocating a second reading of the effectives section Eden pointed out the difficulty of proceeding to useful discussion of the others when the German amendment to chapter II, section I (Conference Document CG71) negatived this section, removing one of the principal pillars of the whole scheme. Massigli and the Czechoslovak delegate80 were of the same opinion. Nadolny on the other hand felt it would be impossible for Germany to give any measure of satisfaction whatsoever with regard to effectives until it knew what concessions would be made with regard to material.
Having discussed the matter with Davis by telephone I pointed out that the logical procedure would be to finish the first reading of the whole plan but in view of the German amendment opposing the insertion of provisions for standardization in the present draft I felt that other delegations might put in similar amendments postponing decisions with regard to other sections and therefore I feared we should gain nothing by proceeding with material. I urged that it would ease the situation if the German delegation would submit a more positive type of amendment or agree to a general reserve upon effectives dependent upon the measures of disarmament obtained in other chapters. In any case I was prepared to abide by the decision of the Bureau.
In view of the marked divergence of views expressed in the debates this morning Henderson proposed to adjourn the Bureau meeting and to endeavor to reconcile the principal difference of opinion between the British and the French on one side and the Germans on the other side by means of private conversations to be held today. The next meeting of the Bureau is scheduled for tomorrow morning when it is hoped a final decision on this point can be reached.
- Eduard Beneš.↩