741.65/530: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Kennedy) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 11—1:12 p.m.]
296. Personal for the Secretary and Under Secretary.
Spent last weekend with the King and Queen.
Neville Chamberlain was there with his wife. He told me that the Italian agreement was in fine shape; that the German agreement was not doing so well; he found it impossible to come to grips with them and have them state what they want. For instance, he said he had asked them what they wanted with regard to colonies and [Page 44] they tossed the question off by saying that was something that could be settled in the next 6 or 10 years.
I asked him if the failure of the agreement meant to him war or like difficulty. He said “no”; that they were thoroughly convinced that Germany was in no position as regards resources or reserves to go to war and they so knew. He likened Germany to a boa constrictor that had eaten a good deal and was trying to digest the meal before taking on anything else. Therefore he saw no difficulties for the time being.