811.3310/1670a
The Acting Secretary of State to President Roosevelt
My Dear Mr. President: I have read with a great deal of interest the letter which you sent to me with your memorandum of July 1617 and which I am returning herewith.
There is no doubt that Jim Miller of the United Press has long experience with and is an acute observer of inter-American affairs. I fully agree with his point of view that it would have been better for this Government to send a more imposing naval force to the South Atlantic than the two cruisers which are now there. As you know, I urgently recommended that a larger force be sent but after you had gone into the matter very fully with Admiral Stark, you reached the conclusion that this was the best we could do under present conditions. If and when the fleet is withdrawn from Hawaii, I still hope it may be possible to send a squadron down the east coast—not for a protracted stay but solely for a visit of demonstration.
As you know, the confidential conversations between our military and naval officers and representatives of the armies and navies of the other American Republics have been singularly satisfactory and staff conversations are to commence the first week in August. In the long run these clear understandings between the military and naval establishments of the United States and the other American Republics will be more productive than mere demonstrations of naval strength.
Believe me
Faithfully yours,
- Not found in Department files.↩