1601/ Wa /39 2 BRITISH SHBASaY, WASHINGTON, D- C. , November 20th, 1939 No. 1307 My Lord, With reference to correspondence ending with lay telegram No* 766 of the 14th November. I have the honour to transmit to Tour Lordship here- with copies of a State Department release giving the text of a broadcast made by the Under Secretary of state, Mr* Sumner Welles, on the work of the recent conference at Panama. The occasion for the address was the impending meeting at Washington of the Inter-American Financial and Economic Advisory Committee. In the course of his address Mr. Welles recommended the Committee to ooneentrate on finding feasible and practical solutions for the "existing and urgent problems affecting inter-American com- munications and trade11* and warned them against limiting themselves to "theoretical expositions of doctrine". S. The bulk of Sir* Welles9 speech consisted of a review of the three major problems with which, he said, the Panama Conference had to deal, viz* (1) the maintenance of normal inter-American economic and commercial life, (ii) the maintenance of neutrality/ The Right Honourable, The Viscount Halifax, K.G., etc., etc*, etc., L:FRHM:ACHM :HK neutrality, (ill) the problem of keeping war away from the Hew World. 3* In connexion with the third point Mr. Welles took the opportunity of answering some criticisms of the "Declaration of Panama". He began by denying flatly that the Declaration was bellleo8er or that It was empty and meaningless, or that it would oblige the United states nary to patrol the whole "security zone". Then after quoting the text of the Declaration at length he went on, with a passage the eext of which was reported in my telegram under reference, to emphasise that the American Republics were only obliged under the Declaration to try to secure from the belligerents an assurance that the latter would observe the terms of the Declaration. This might, he pointed out, involve lengthy discus- sions with the belligerents. Although the American Republics had agreed to consult together in the event of the belligerents refusing to accept the Declaration, yet there was no Implication In the (, agreement that any of them would use foree to corapi 1 the observance of the Declaration. j**t£ Mr. Welles went on to explain that the United States Government was under no obligation to patrol waters which were net adjacent to its own coasts and made It elsar that in any ease the patrol was only Intended to enable the American Governments to/ to ascertain what was happening within the "neutral zone". I have the honour to be* f||j with the highest respect, My Lord, Tour Lordship's Wtost obedient* humble serrant, (002)) IiOTHIA*