500.CC/4–245
The Counselor of the British Embassy (Makins) to Mr. Leo Pasvolsky, Special Assistant to the Secretary of State
My Dear Pasvolsky: In connection with the arrangements for the San Francisco Conference you will remember that we spoke on [Page 181] March 28th71 about the procedure which might be adopted when it becomes necessary to wind up the League of Nations.
We subsequently received instruction to make a formal communication to the Secretary of State on the subject and Lord Halifax accordingly addressed his note No. 150 of March 30th to Mr. Stettinius. I enclose a further copy of this note for your convenience.72
We have now been asked by the Foreign Office to suggest that it would be desirable to reach an understanding on the best procedure for handling this matter before the Conference opens, and they would therefore be very grateful if the State Department were willing to arrange for preliminary discussions to be held in Washington before the Conference opens. Such a discussion might take as its basis Lord Halifax’s note of March 28th.
The Foreign Office further suggests that, in addition to representatives of the sponsoring powers, it would be advantageous to invite a representative of the French Provisional Government.
The Foreign Office are prepared to send an expert to Washington to participate in any discussions which may be held.
We should be very glad to have the views of the State Department on this proposal at the earliest possible date.73
Yours very sincerely,