Roosevelt Papers
Prime Minister Churchill to President Roosevelt 1
Mr. President:
May I leave with you this reminder about your promise to make some statement confirming that there is to be no question of the transfer to the United States of the British West Indian Colonies either under the Bases Agreement or otherwise.
I stated in the House of Commons on August 20, 1940, “There is of course no question of any transference of sovereignty—that has never been suggested—or of any action being taken without the consent of or against the wishes of the various Colonies concerned.” Anxiety is however still felt on the subject in many Islands, and it has been suggested that, as this is likely to be revived by the publication of the proposed communique about the Anglo-American Caribbean Commission, that announcement would be a suitable occasion for your statement, possibly in reply to an inspired question at a Press Conference, subsequent to the Press release.2
14.1.42
- The source text is labeled “copy”; Churchill’s initials are typed.↩
- In a statement released to the press on March 9, 1942, Roosevelt emphasized that the United States did not seek sovereignty over the islands or colonies on which the bases were located; see Department of State Bulletin, vol. vi, March 14, 1942, p. 230.↩