882.01 Foreign Control/579: Telegram
The Ambassador in Great Britain (Bingham) to the Acting Secretary of State
[Received June 29—8:45 a.m.]
196. From General Winship. My telegram No. 195, June 28, noon. Cecil, Firestone and the League officials have strongly urged me to return to Liberia accompanying Mackenzie.
[Page 923]I gave it very careful consideration and reached the conclusion that it would be far more useful at this juncture for me to proceed to Washington to discuss the various implications of our present policy and the probable future developments. We shall be occupied here for several days with further private meetings, and unless instructed to the contrary we plan to sail for New York July 6 steamship Manhattan.
I accordingly told Mackenzie yesterday that I should be unable to accompany him on July 12. After some discussion it was provisionally arranged to recommend to Liberia that the special session be convened about August 25. Thus should you desire me to return to Monrovia it would be possible to get back and sail with Mackenzie from Liverpool on August 9.
To assist in your consideration of this matter I should like to state that, in view of the difficulty of the position, I think my prospects of securing the desired results from another trip to Liberia (assuming you wished me to go and I found it possible to do so) would be too severely handicapped unless there had previously been obtained from Firestone his agreement to accept whatever solution I might be able to evolve concerning several controversial points, other than the nationality of the Chief Adviser. These would specifically include the extent of the authority of the Frontier Force officer, and (for the period of the League plan) ascertain his nationality and that of the Financial Adviser.
The above message was prepared last night. Your telegram 165 [176], June 28, 6 p.m., just received and greatly appreciated. I shall shortly telegraph further. [Winship.]