740.00/560: Telegram
The Chargé in the United Kingdom (Johnson) to the Secretary of State
[Received January 30—6:17 p.m.]
126. For the Secretary and the Under Secretary. Your No. 76, January 29, 2 p.m. I saw the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs for a few minutes this afternoon at my own request by appointment made about a week ago. Lord Halifax first referred to the fact that today was the President’s birthday and said he would like to offer his congratulations.
He then said that he understood I had been kept fully informed of the views of his Government regarding the international situation which have recently been communicated to Washington and that he had just received a telegram from the British Chargé in Washington reporting his interview with the Secretary of State. Lord Halifax had no comment to make except that in substance the Chargé had reported that in the view of the State Department the British note “had nothing new in it” and that foreign relations were a delicate matter for the administration. The Foreign Secretary said he hoped no one would think that the British Government believed all of these reports were necessary, accurate, or true but that in the face of what might be a very grave situation his Government was necessarily constrained to take account of and examine every possibility. He said that he had no information to communicate in addition to what has already been given us and remarked that wise men in his own Government and also, he was sure, in Washington, were pondering these matters on the basis of such information as could be obtained and endeavoring to reach the right decisions.