Letter from Michael MacWhite to Desmond FitzGerald (Dublin)
(M.L. 03/051)

A Chara,

With reference to my letter of April 13th (M.L.03/041),¹ referring to the objection lodged by the British Government against the registration of the London Agreement of December 1925,² I wish to draw your attention to the fact that unless a reply to the British note is forthcoming from us our position as regards the registration with the Secretariat of the League of Nations of any future agreements or Treaties with Great Britain will be considerably prejudiced. If we leave the British note unanswered, it will be held by the League authorities that we have agreed to its conclusions and once a precedent of this nature is established, it is very difficult to undo it.

I have urged on the Assistant Secretary General the necessity of keeping any reference to this matter out of the press, but in the course of a week or two, it is bound to appear in the Treaty Series, when it becomes public property and then there is no doubt but, if unanswered, the press will draw conclusions from our silence, which will not be in our favour.