760F.62/1099: Telegram

The Ambassador in the United Kingdom ( Kennedy ) to the Secretary of State

1029. The following message was telephoned to me under M. Bonnet’s instructions with the request that I deliver it to the President in answer to his telegram this morning.

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The French are releasing it in a very short time to the French press.

I asked what they wanted done in America and they said of course to suit yourself.

“Your moving appeal has reached me in London at the very moment when, in close cooperation with the British Government France makes a supreme attempt with a view to safeguarding all possibility of an amicable settlement of the conflict that is threatening peace, it is of special value to me that under your high moral authority the devotion of the entire American nation to the principles which have been recognized and publicly acknowledged by all the parties to the Kellogg Pact is now solemnly reaffirmed.

“Remaining faithful both to the spirit and the letter of the pledges, we continue with unfailing tenacity to look for any procedure or form of agreement which may be compatible with the dignity and the vital interests of the nations involved.

“We trust thus to serve to the last the ideal of justice and peace which has always been a link between our two nations. Daladier.”

Kennedy