Sect, iii     THE DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE, 1933	305
a convention which is best calculated to restore the sense of confidence
which has recently been so rudely shaken, the necessary conditions of
success can be established.
After Sir John Simon had spoken, the representatives of the United
States, Italy, and France associated themselves with his statement,
approval of which was also expressed by Dr. Benes, Monsieur Politis,
and other speakers. Mr. Norman Davis declared that the statement
was in harmony with the proposals which had been put forward by
President Roosevelt in May 1933, and he laid stress on the importance
of not transforming the Disarmament Convention into an occasion
for rearmament. Signor di Soragna, the Italian delegate, said that
he would be happy to associate himself with efforts to bring about an
agreement along the lines laid down by Sir John Simon. Monsieur
Paul-Boncour was rather more guarded in his approval; but he
declared that he accepted some of the principles mentioned by Sir
John Simon. He emphasized the necessity of taking account of the
political situation existing in Europe, and from this point of view he
believed that the division of the period of application of the conven-
tion into two stages was essential. It was important that there should
be no re-armament, and it was desirable that there should be definite
undertakings regarding a substantial reduction of armaments during
the period of validity of the convention. In regard to the suggestion
that the first of the two stages should be of four years' duration,
Monsieur Paul-Boncour pointed out that that period had not been
chosen arbitrarily but as a result of a series of considerations to which
the French Government attached great importance.
In the absence of both Freiherr von Neurath and Herr Nadolny
the German Government were represented by Freiherr von Rhein-
baben, whose statement contained no hint of what was to come.
The German representative contented himself with reminding the
Bureau that the German Government's attitude was determined by
two considerations: that there must be real and substantial disarma-
ment on the part of the heavily armed Powers; and that there
must be a practical and immediate application of the principle of
equality of status, with questions of quantities left open for further
negotiation.
The meeting of the Bureau ended at about 12.30 and unofficial
reports that Germany had decided to withdraw from the Con-
ference were in circulation within an hour or two.^1 By 3 o'clock
^1 The news that the Government had decided to withdraw from the Dis-
armament Conference and from the League was announced in the midday
papers in Berlin.
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