Dear Fred,

Re yesterday's telegram.¹ The position regarding the Presidency is still open. I asked the Argentine Minister if it were true that the Argentine is no longer a candidate, and he says that that is so, that his Foreign Minister could not come this year. I then told him that President de Valera's name has been mentioned as a likely candidate, and asked if the Argentine Delegation could keep that in mind if they had no other particular interest. They seemed very pleased with the idea, and I think that they will be willing to give support, so far at any rate as the local Minister could promise. The same applies to the Latvian Minister, and Riddell says that he thinks that certainly President de Valera should get either the Presidency or at least an elected Vice-Presidency. As Walters and Wilson have been away on missions and are not expected back until next week, I thought it well to see the Secretary-General. He gave me the reply I expected, that is, that he has no information so far regarding any candidates, but that things in that respect would be clearer in the course of a week. As, however, President de Valera is one of the big figures of the League, M. Avenol would be very pleased to see him in one of the prominent positions and he would bear what I said to him in mind. With him, I opened on the elected Vice-Presidency, indicating that I desired to make sure of that, but I also referred to the Presidency, and asked him if any candidates had been mentioned. He did not know of any since the Argentine went out. I reminded him of what had happened last year, stressing the appeal by M. Barthou. He knew of the President's withdrawal in favour of Sandler.²

I received today a reply from Sir D.[enis] Bray of which I attach a copy.³ It is satisfactory so far as it goes, and I really do not now think that we have any serious difficulty in regard to an elected Vice-Presidency. Fearing, however, that there would be any confusion as between the elected post and the Chairmanship of the Sixth Committee which could be serious, I dropped another line to him last night, on receipt of the telegram, telling him that our interest was no longer in the Chairmanship but in the elected position. I also dropped a personal note to Officer of Australia, who is probably back by this, and another to Sir James Parr. I was greatly afraid that somebody might say that New Zealand had been promised support, and so I thought it essential to forestall this if possible. The South African delegate is also advising te Water of our new wishes. Baranyai of Hungary, whom I saw today at lunch, offered to speak about the Presidency for the President, an offer which I gratefully accepted.

That is the position. It is as satisfactory as it could be at the moment, so far as the elected Vice-Presidency is concerned. As regards the Presidency, nothing will be known for certain until almost the last moment, and I expect that we will have the same feeling of anxiety as we had last year. All the key people are still away from Geneva but I am trying to get Hambro advised. I am told that Madariaga will not be here, but he may turn up. Anyway, as soon as Oliván⁴ comes I will see him. If General Smuts comes there may of course be a complication, but I hardly think that he will change his mind at this late hour. He could be here, however, as he always travels by air. I will keep you advised regarding any developments.

The Secretariat will give me the details of the delegations as they are compiled, and I will send them on. M. Laval and M. Herriot are coming for France, and M Beneš and M. Osusky for Czechoslovakia. I expect that all the big guns will be here. The atmosphere here is one of excitement as to the outcome of next week's meeting. The Secretary-General says that the outlook may not be so black as it looks. He is very pleased that Italy is going to present her case. She would not look at any such suggestion previously. I asked him whether it is likely that the dispute will be referred to the Assembly and he is of opinion that it will not; that that is the last thing which the Abyssinians would want, as such a procedure would give rise to all sorts of discussions. He is not even sure that the Abyssinians could now make the request under Art. 15.

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