033.4111/338½
The British Prime Minister (Chamberlain) to President Roosevelt56
My Dear Mr. President: Your personal letter to me of the 28th July reached me in the latter half of August while I was on holiday in [Page 132] Scotland. I was very glad to receive it and to note that we were in agreement as to the necessity of careful timing and preparation before I could usefully make the visit to the United States which you were good enough to suggest. Since however you asked for further suggestions as to additional preparatory steps that might be taken as between ourselves with a view to expediting the time when my visit might appropriately be made I thought it best to defer my reply until I had returned to London and could gather up the latest developments in the situation here.
As you will no doubt appreciate that situation changes so often and so rapidly that any account of it is liable to be out of date in a very brief space of time. At the present moment so far as Europe is concerned I think I may say that it is less menacing than it has appeared for some months past, but we still seem to be a long way from the resumption of cordial relations between the Totalitarian States and the democracies. At the same time various circumstances have combined to ease the tension and to encourage the friends of peace.
On the other hand the Far Eastern situation has justified our worst fears and I see little prospect at the present time of being able to improve it by action on the part of the Western Powers. At any moment some incident may arise with repercussions which cannot even be guessed at.
In these circumstances I am afraid that I cannot suggest any way in which the meeting between us could be expedited, though I greatly regret this both on personal and official grounds. Perhaps the community of sentiment between our two countries as to the events in the Far East and the developments in the European situation may be doing something to create a favourable atmosphere and the conclusion of an Anglo-American commercial agreement57 when we have found ways of overcoming its obvious difficulties will undoubtedly be an important step in the right direction.
In my view then we must wait a little longer, but I hope I need not assure you that I shall watch the course of events most carefully, as I am sure you will too, for any opportunity of furthering the purpose we both have in view.
Believe me [etc.]
- Photostatic copy obtained from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, Hyde Park, N. Y.↩
- See vol. ii, pp. 1 ff.↩