841.51/80a
The Secretary of State to the Secretary of the Treasury (McAdoo)
Dear Mr. Secretary: In view of your letter of the 14th38 sending me the correspondence in relation to a proposed letter to be sent by [Page 46] you to the representatives of the powers to whom money is being loaned and your opinion that a notice should be given them such as the one you propose, I have gone over the matter very carefully again and I am more firmly convinced than ever that such a communication would be a grave mistake.
The same argument which is urged in regard to loans might be advanced in regard to the employment of the embargo, the co-operation of our naval vessels about the British Islands, the presence of our military forces in France, and similar active aid by this Government. It seems to me that it is much wiser to avoid statements of this sort, which might be misconstrued. On the other hand, I am not at all afraid that any of the powers will attempt to construe our silence into acquiescence in the national objectives of the various countries. But, even if it should be considered out of abundant caution to make our position plain, I think that it would be unwise to do so until there is some evidence that such a claim may be made. There is no evidence of the sort now.
Faithfully yours,
- For text of this letter and of the preceding correspondence, see Hearings Before the Special Committee Investigating the Munitions Industry, United States Senate, 74th Cong., 2d sess. (Washington, Government Printing Office, 1936), pp. 8999–9001.↩