500.A15a3/425
The Secretary of State to the British Chargé (Campbell)
My Dear Mr. Campbell: Referring to your letter of the eighteenth and the Aide-Mémoire contained in it, your letter correctly states the further information which I desire from your Government.
As to the three sections of the Aide-Mémoire,—I am in agreement with No. 1. I am not in agreement with the sense of No. 2 that it is the United States desire for a program of eight inch gun cruisers that constitutes the difficulty with Japan. I would be inclined to put the reasons for the difficulty in the British demands for total cruiser tonnage, but that difference of approach is more or less inherent in our two somewhat different points of view.
The same comment applies in a less degree to Paragraph 3 of your Aide-Mémoire.
Sincerely yours,