500.A15/534: Telegram
The Ambassador in Chile (Collier) to the Secretary of State
[Received 8:50 p.m.]
65. Upon the day of receipt of your 18, April 13, 4 p.m.,46 I went to Foreign Office to get necessary information. Sickness of Minister for Foreign Affairs delayed consideration several days, then Under Secretary assured me Chile’s policy since prior to last Pan American Conference47 had been limited by categories and he did not believe personality had changed but he would consult Navy Department in which instructions originated. This was subsequently confirmed by Minister for Foreign Affairs. A few days ago Under Secretary gave me a memorandum stating that, though Chilean policy had not changed, its Navy Department had construed the French proposition as a compromise fixing limit for total tonnage with a liberty of varying within it the limit fixed for each class, thus serving what the memorandum calls “a freedom for the distribution of tonnage”. This was a desire entertained by Chile even at the time of Pan American Conference. The memorandum of Under Secretary of Foreign Affairs says he believes that there is a contradiction between the terms “limitation of tonnage by categories” and “distribution of tonnage among the different types of ships” and that as a result of this misunderstanding Chilean policy had been changed. By this the Under Secretary evidently meant that instructions inconsistent with Chilean fixed policy had been given. The Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs communicated these views to Under Secretary of the Navy who in turn consulted General Staff of Navy whose reply had not been received at the time the memorandum was handed me a few days ago. Yesterday Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs told me Under Secretary of the Navy told him that evidently the French proposal had been misconstrued and the Chilean delegate had been erroneously informed but that shortly correct instructions would be given to oppose all propositions inconsistent with the idea of limitation by categories. Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has promised to send me copy of memorandum of Navy Department or its proposed instructions as soon as received by him. I will send full text of his memorandum in the next pouch.48
- See footnote 43, p. 203.↩
- Fifth International Conference of American States. For proceedings, see Report of the Delegates of the United States of America to the Fifth International Conference of American States (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1924).↩
- Despatch No. 1081, May 21, not printed.↩