740.00/95½

President Roosevelt to the Ambassador in Poland ( Cudahy )9

Dear John: Your letter of December twentieth [twenty-sixth] is extremely interesting and your conclusions go along very largely with [Page 27] mine. Acting Secretary Moore has felt that the acute crises recurring every few months can continue to be tided over—I hope he is right but the fundamental economic evils of the situation grow worse and that means greater difficulty each time a new diplomatic crisis arises.

Do not believe rumors that I contemplate any move of any kind in Europe—certainly under conditions of the moment.

I wish you would write me your thought on the military ability of Poland and of Czechoslovakia to defend themselves against Germany in the event of aggression—also your thought on the economic future of both these countries for the next five or ten years, assuming that no war breaks out.

Congress has convened and I have startled them once or twice—more startles to come—but it is just as well to get them in early and then let the session run its course.

As ever yours,

[File copy not signed]
  1. Photostatic copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N. Y.