724.3415/4105: Telegram
The Ambassador in Argentina (Weddell) to the Secretary of State
[Received 1:20 p.m.]
156. Department’s telegram No. 107, September 10, 7 p.m. The Minister for Foreign Affairs informed me orally yesterday afternoon that his interpretation of the concessions [conciliation] formula is that the signing thereof would be simultaneous with the conclusion by Bolivia and Paraguay of an agreement to arbitrate. I therefore, communicated to the Minister for Foreign Affairs the contents of the second paragraph of the Department’s telegram above referred to regarding which, however, he made no comment. He also told me that he has but little hope of anything being accomplished through conciliation proceedings and feels that the two countries must be caught in an inescapable arbitration agreement if peace is to be achieved.
The Bolivian Minister who with the Brazilian Ambassador was present a part of the time refused to agree that the Minister for Foreign Affairs might inform the League of Nations that his Government accepted the peace formula “in principle.” Dr. Saavedra Lamas said that he proposed to discuss the matter with the Paraguayan Minister today before telegraphing Geneva.
I am meeting the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Brazilian Ambassador and the Paraguayan Minister this afternoon and shall endeavor to discuss the pertinent portions of the concluding paragraph of the Department’s No. 107, September 10, 7 p.m.