851.48/257a: Telegram
The Acting Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant)
900. Referring to a personal message delivered by Lord Halifax on March 13 will you kindly transmit the following reply to a former naval person from the President:
“I have received your message regarding the French food relief situation and I fully appreciate the difficulties of the problem.
“I have talked it over with the Secretary of State and, as a first step, he has told the French Ambassador here and is instructing Leahy to tell Petain at Vichy that we are making every effort to be helpful in this problem, that some real progress has already been made, that we will continue our efforts, but that, of course, any drastic French action or even threats along these lines will make it entirely impossible to find a solution.
“The Secretary will continue to keep your Ambassador fully informed of all developments.”