740.0011 European War 1939/8392a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Yugoslavia (Lane)
24. My 21, February 9, 10 p.m. In conformity with the desire of the President I conveyed the following message to the Yugoslav Minister for transmission to his Government:
“The President at this moment when peaceful nations are seeking a policy to insure their own integrity is convinced that any victory on behalf of the predatory powers even if it only be in the diplomatic field would but pave the way for fresh demands accompanied by threats of force against the very independence of the nation thus menaced. The President also desires it to be realized that the so-called Lend-Lease Bill28 now before the Congress and which has been passed by the House of Representatives and by the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate permits in its present form for the President to supply the materials of war to those nations that are now the victims of aggression or which might be threatened with aggression.”
- Enacted March 11, 1941; 55 Stat. 31.↩