’BLUFF,’ GERMANS SAY OF U.S.-BRITISH PARLEY
Berlin, Aug. 14 (UP) –
Authorized quarters said today that the Roosevelt-Churchill meeting was “propaganda bluff.”
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MEETING UNPRECEDENTED IN WORLD’S HISTORY
By the United Press
The meeting of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill in the North Atlantic was without exact historic parallel.
Although history is filled with dramatic meetings of heads of state under dramatic circumstances, none of the recorded meetings provided an absolute precedent for this.
The nearest parallel occurred in 1807 when Czar Alexander I of Russia, attempting to appease Napoleon, met with the French emperor on a gaudily decorated river barge at Tilsit. Five years later, when the Napoleonic conquests had neared their climax, Napoleon turned on Alexander and invaded Russia.
MacDonald visited U.S.
British Prime Ministers and American Presidents have inferred in state meetings before. Ramsay MacDonald was the only British Prime Minister to visit the United States, but President Wilson met often with David Lloyd George during the Versailles Peace Conference.
Mr. MacDonald came to the United States in 1929 to talk with President Hoover as a prelude to the London naval parley and again in 1933 to confer with Mr. Roosevelt before the London Economic Conference.
Pierre Laval, then French Premier, discussed disarmament and international debts with Mr. Hoover at Washington in 1931.
Several heads of state have visited the United States in comparatively recent years. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain toured the United States and were entertained at the White House and at the Roosevelt’s Hyde Park home in 1939.
Many visit Hitler
King Albert of Belgium came here in 1929 and Queen Marie of Romania in 1926. Marie came aboard the steamship Leviathan as a guest of the United States government.
Many chiefs of state have visited Adolf Hitler. They include British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, who flew to Berchtesgaden and Godesberg in 1938 in efforts to prevent the present war. French Premier Édouard Daladier and Benito Mussolini also participated in pre-war “appeasement” conferences.
The Brenner Pass meetings of Hitler and Mussolini have often preceded important developments in the war.
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AMERICANS CHEATED, NYE TELLS RALLY
Chicago, Aug. 14 (UP) –
Senator Gerald P. Nye (R-ND) said last night that the American people will not be moved by any decisions reached at the reported conference among President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and “perhaps Mr. Stalin.”
He said:
Rumor and mystery and not controlling 130 million Americans as they did a few months back.
He spoke at a America First rally.
Senator Nye declared:
Americans are seeing today how some of their leaders, those in whom they placed largest confidence, have been misleading and cheating the people of the one remaining great democracy upon this earth.
The American public is rather complacent about what might or might not be occurring off the coast of New England.
He said this is:
…indicative of the determination of the American people that, whatever these leaders may wish America to do, America shall not permit her sons in this foreign war.
He charged that the administration “step-by-step” had led the nation toward war, concealing its purpose:
…with the fragrant robes of peace.
He continued:
What next? A shooting war without declaration of war, perchance?
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PACIFIC CRISIS MAJOR FACTOR IN SEA PARLEY
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Historic three-day conference held on Roosevelt’s invitation
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By Frederick Kuh, United Press staff writer
London, Aug. 14 – (by telephone)
Threats of war in the Pacific are believed to have been one of the chief reasons for the historic meeting at sea of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Now that the secret of the meeting is out, it can be revealed that the President and the Prime Minister met on “the calm blue sea” of the Atlantic for three days last weekend upon the express personal invitation of Mr. Roosevelt.
The two leaders had never met, despite Mr. Churchill’s pre-war visits to America. Throughout the 15 months of his premiership, both were in constant direct communication, including frequent heart-to-heart telephone conversations. To political impulses prompting the meeting was added plain human curiosity and friendship.
Many topics to review
The Russian war raised numberless questions, especially that of quick effective help to the Soviets. American supplies to British home and Middle Eastern forces, the convoying of American tanks and other war materials, presented changing problems requiring review.
Vichy’s subservience to the Axis, involving the fate of French North and West Africa and touching Western hemisphere defense, seemed to call for fresh definitions of American and British policy.
More remote but important perplexities, like German influence in Iran, were creating rising concern.
More telling action due
Soviet resistance for the first time convinced many doubters that Germany can be defeated.
Instead of encouraging Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill to relax, however, the hurling of roughly four-fifths of German power against Russia impelled the Premier and President to prepare yet more telling action.
These issues alone would explain why Messrs. Roosevelt and Churchill decided to sit down with their service chiefs and, in an intimate personal chat, thresh out the strategic and political problems facing them.
Had these motives failed to clinch their meeting, Japan’s defiance of all American and British appeals and warnings to keep within bounds clearly seems to have done the trick.
Probably mapped next moves
Recent British, Australian, Dutch East Indies staff talks are reported to have progressed so smoothly that the President and Prime Minister probably discussed the next defense measures in the Pacific.
If Britain, Australia and the Dutch East Indies were to conclude a defensive alliance, the United States would be expected to view that development favorably.
Washington might indicate its sympathetic attitude while making clear that the integrity of the Dutch East Indies comes within the framework of American security.
The two leaders of the democracies are assumed to have fully examined the consequences of a further Japanese advance to the south in Thailand and of the increasing concentration of Japan’s armed forces near Siberia.
Jap moves followed
It is possible that they had before them the latest information reaching London, according to which Japan plans by the beginning of September to double its 240,000-strong Manchukuo garrison.
To the 16 divisions previously stationed in Manchukuo, Japan is reported already to have added four, two each from home forces and troops hitherto in China.
Tokyo’s timetable is said to contemplate the dispatch of another 10 or 11 divisions to Manchukuo within the next two or three weeks.
Even if the Japanese assembled about half a million soldiers in Manchukuo, they would remain in appreciable numerical inferiority to the opposing Soviet armies across the Amur.
Attitude probably clarified
The American and British governments have already indicated their readiness to act if Japan continues moving south. But President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill may well have clarified their countries’ attitude toward the threatened Japanese “stab in the back” of Russia while the Red armies are embattled against the Germans in the West.
Then, too, hints of Japan’s unwillingness to countenance the flow of American, British Empire and Dutch supplies to Vladivostok appeared to demand clarifying as to whether the United States and the Allies would tolerate the Japanese attempt to interrupt that supply line.
The joint Roosevelt-Churchill declaration following their conference naturally uncovered no strategic or political secrets, but its renewed bold promise of collaboration against the aggressors is expected soon to be transplanted into action on the seven seas and five continents.
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The Pittsburgh Press (August 15, 1941)
NEW MOVES BY U.S. NAVY LOOM
8-point pact needs action to beat Axis
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More details on meeting expected when President comes ashore
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BULLETIN
Tokyo, Aug. 16 –
The press today denounced the eight-point program formulated by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill as tantamount to a declaration of war aimed to weaken Japan.
By John A. Reichmann, United Press staff writer
Washington, Aug. 15 –
Congressional circles debated today whether the pledge of President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill to destroy the “Nazi tyranny” foreshadowed American naval or military moves.
They cited the fact that top Army and Navy officers accompanied Mr. Roosevelt to the conferences with British leaders in the Atlantic aboard American and British warships.
Highly-placed officials here interpreted the Roosevelt-Churchill statement as a prelude to action. They said it virtually created an Anglo-American “entente” on world issues and pointed out that there must be concerted steps to defeat the Axis before there is any chance of achieving the peace aims the statement stressed.
These developments followed the Roosevelt-Churchill declaration:
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The President notified the White House by radio today that he will return soon to the United States and it was believed he would debark at Rockland, Maine. A statement will be given the press tonight, but it was expected to contain little more than the President’s arrival plans. It was believed Mr. Roosevelt would reveal some details of the Anglo-American accord when he arrives. There were unconfirmed rumors he would address the nation by radio within a week or two.
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Britain’s aggressive Minister of Supply, Lord Beaverbrook, first of the conferees to reach here, entered a series of talks with officials about getting “more of everything” for Britain.
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Defense officials forecast an increase in the impending new $6 billion Lend-Lease appropriation request; new efforts to speed up airplane and tank production; and consequently further restrictions on normal business.
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The Army announced it would rush construction of $2 billion of new port facilities in New York to expedite shipments of Lend-Lease supplies to Britain.
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Official pictures released by the White House revealed the 35,000-ton British battleship Prince of Wales and the U.S. cruiser Augusta were the scene of at least two of the conferences last Saturday and Sunday.
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Secretary of State Cordell Hull said today he hoped all civilized nations of the world, including Soviet Russia, will rally round the Roosevelt-Churchill eight-point program. He added that an announcement may be made concerning reports that a committee of American, British and Russian experts would be convened to make collaboration among the three countries more effective.
The pictures confirmed the presence, among others, of Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff; Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations; Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet; General Sir John Dill, Chief of the British Imperial Staff; Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Sea Lord of Britain; Sumner Welles, Under Secretary of State; Harry Hopkins, Lend-Lease administrator and W. Averell Harriman, Lend-Lease “expediter” stationed in London.
Congressional reaction continued mixed.
The heads of both the Senate Military and Naval Affairs Committees gave little sign of being swayed from their isolationist views. Chairman Robert R. Reynolds (D-NC) of the Military Affairs Committee denounced the pledge of aid to Russia and said he would not vote funds for that purpose.
He demanded:
Why don’t Great Britain and the United States start imposing the four freedoms on India, Russia and other places right now?
Charman David I. Walsh (D-MA) of the Naval Affairs Committee charged the agreement put the United States into “full partnership” with Britain in excess of Mr. Roosevelt’s constitutional powers. He said the “obligations expressed and implied” are “more shackling” than the Treaty of Versailles.
But Senator Tom Connally (D-TX), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the declaration:
…a noble and magnificent statement of policy.
The Senate’s Republican floor leader, Charles L. McNary of Oregon, said:
It is a nice display of ideology. I hope it is true.
Senator Ellison D. Smith (D-SC) complained that the President:
…did not take Congress and the country into his confidence.
The more or less general opinion in Congress was that the full story of the Churchill-Roosevelt meeting had not been told. Members felt that such figures as General Marshall and Admiral Stark, were not taken along to discuss peace aims.
Many believed there would be closer collaboration in putting economic and political pressure on Japan and Vichy France. A stronger campaign to encourage growing resistance among the conquered nations was also expected.
Diplomatic observers saw in the agreement a bid for the full support of the Latin-American governments. The eight-point declaration of principles parallels declarations adopted at many of the inter-American conferences held since the inauguration of the “good neighbor” policy. The Latin-American nations have been among the heavier sufferers from restrictive tariffs.
Another league?
An important point raised by the proposed “new order” – the machinery for carrying out these principles – also aroused much diplomatic speculation and suggested to many observers a revival of the League of Nations, on revised lines.
Developments has been hinted in previous public speeches of American leaders. Secretary of State Cordell Hull indicated no statement on the possibility of a new league would be forthcoming for some time.
Under Secretary of State Welles, speaking July 22, touched on the weaknesses of the old league. It failed, he said:
…because of the blind selfishness of men here in the United States as well as in other parts of the world.
…because certain powers used it for their own:
…political and commercial ambitions, and because it was used to preserve the status quo.
Explains failure
It failed primarily because it was not used as an impartial instrument to bring about peaceful and fair adjustments between nations, he said.
Recognizing the need of some mechanism to make necessary adjustments, he stressed that it must first abolish offensive armaments, limit defense armaments and tools for armaments production and, secondly, protect the natural rights of people and guarantee them access to raw materials. These were major items in the eight-point peace plan.
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TWO OF PRESIDENT’S SONS REVEALED AT CONFERENCE
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Official pictures give some details of story that has been kept back of veil of mystery
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Washington, Aug. 15 (UP) –
One question at least about the Roosevelt-Churchill conferences was answered today. They conferred aboard the British battleship Prince of Wales and the American cruiser Augusta. Where the ships were when they conferred was not known. Nor was there any hinty where the President and the Prime Minister now are.
The White House issued a photograph showing President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill aboard HMS Prince of Wales, taken after church services last Sunday. Another shows them on a group aboard the Augusta taken “after dinner” last Saturday.
There was no hint of where the ships were, but Lord Beaverbrook, one of the conferees, arrived at New Brunswick suggesting that they were somewhere near the Canadian coast. Mr. Churchill disappeared from London early last week, which would have given him ample time to keep a rendezvous in these waters if the speedy Prince of Wales had been his means of transport.
President Roosevelt took to sea in the yacht Potomac. The pictures, together with the explanations issued by the White House, revealed that he transhipped twice – to the Prince of Wales and to the Augusta. He could have transhipped at sea or he could have changed ships in some Canadian port.
Mr. Roosevelt was presumed to be back on the Potomac and was expected to come into port today or tomorrow. The Prime Minister was believed to be back in England, though he could still be aboard the Prince of Wales en route there.
The pictures revealed that the President’s sons, Franklin Jr., a naval ensign, and Elliott, an Army Air Forces captain, were aboard the Augusta. His other sons, James, a Marine captain, and John, who is studying naval supply methods, were not shown.
The picture taken aboard the Prince of Wales, which participated in the sea battle in which HMS Hood was sunk by the German battleship Bismarck and the Bismarck was sunk by torpedo planes, showed the President and Prime Minister sitting in deck, side by side, each with a prayer book in hand. Mr. Roosevelt is turned toward Mr. Churchill, speaking to him, and the Prime Minister is listening intently.
The second group picture taken aboard the Augusta showed Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles; Lend-Lease coordinator Harry L. Hopkins; Presidential Secretary Maj. Gen. Edwin M. Watson; Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet; Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations; Dr. Ross T. McIntire, the President’s personal physician; and W. Averell Harriman, the President’s Lend-Lease “expediter” in London; Gen. Sir John Dill, Chief of British Imperial Staff; and Admiral Sir Dudley Pound, First Sea Lord of Great Britain.
Ships compared
The Augusta, former flagship of the Asiatic Fleet, was commissioned Feb. 1, 1930 and is one of six 9,050-ton vessels of her class. It carries 611 officers and men and its overall length is 600 feet, 3 inches. When placed in service, it carried nine 8-inch guns, four 56-inch anti-aircraft guns, two three-pounders, and eight machine guns. There were four aircraft and two catapults. These armaments may have been increased.
The Prince of Wales is one of five 35,000-ton warships of the King George V class. Its sister ship, the King George V, brought British Ambassador Lord Halifax to the United States. Capable of 30 knots, they are fitted with main turrets of four 14-inch guns fore and aft, with a second turret of two 14-inch guns above and behind the main fore turret. IOn addition, they have sixteen 5.5-inch guns.
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WORLD RETALIATION TO PEACE GOALS
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Summary of comment on Roosevelt-Churchill conference shows wide diversion of opinion as to purpose and value of declaration
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By the United Press
The peace aims set forth by President Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill echoed through the world. A summary of world reaction follows:
The United States
Congress
Chairman David I. Walsh (D-MA) of the Senate Naval Affairs Committee:
A commitment that goes far beyond the constitutional powers of the President.
Senator Pat McCarran (D-NV):
A declaration based in the unwarranted assumption that the United States is a belligerent in this water.
Senator Democratic Leader Alben W. Barkley:
It will find an enthusiastic response in the hearts of all people.
House Democratic Leader John W. McCormack:
A message of peace – the basis upon which a real and lasting peace can be made.
Editorials
East
The Providence Journal (Rhode Island):
Ours to see this war through as an ever-growing arsenal Britain’s to abandon all notion of territorial or other gain.
The Boston Globe:
President Roosevelt has placed the influence of the American policy behind British war aims.
New York Daily News:
…Mr. Roosevelt… has sold Mr. Churchill on the “four freedoms” – but with a notable omission. Nothing is said about the freedom of religion… This neglect… is in deference, we take it, to our new ally Joe Stalin.
The New York Times:
…To the extent that British and American statesmanship can make the good faith of their purpose apparent to the German people, they will rob Hitler of bis greatest weapon – the present belief of the German people that the outcome of this war mean life or death for the German nation.
The Philadelphia Inquirer:
The necessity of this meeting… was rendered doubly important and timely by current sinister developments.
Midwest
Detroit Free Press:
We are at war. The joint declaration leaves no other alternative.
The Plain Dealer (Cleveland):
No patriotic American, regardless of his political affiliation or his views on the part the United States should take in the war, will be opposed to the establishment of political and economic freedom for all the nations of the world.
The Kansas City Star:
It presents noble aspirations on which there will be general agreement.
The Indianapolis Star:
We endorse the program, in principle, a will every other nation believing in right and justice among neighbors.
The Des Moines Register and Tribune:
There has been absolute need of presenting to the world a chart of purposes that will stand as an alternative – a more tolerable and finer alternative – to the new order proposed by Hitler.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch:
Have we heard all there is to hear from this meeting? Is a statement of aims all the President and the
South
The Times-Picayune (New Orleans):
…[It] will prove “momentous” only if its noble purposes are implemented and itd fine objectives made sure of attainment by the muster of armed force strong enough and well enough equipped to beat off brute aggression by land and sea and all.
The Galveston News (Texas):
Wilson spoke for America alone. Roosevelt and Churchill speak for the Anglo-American world.
The Baltimore Sun:
All men who dream of a reign of peace and order must pray that from the physical and political risks taken in this meeting… will come a greater unity, a great resolution on the part of the peoples who struggle for freedom, and a more powerful, more productive marshaling of their immense resources.
West
Los Angeles Times:
All that seems presently clear is that the peace-objective declaration is a cover for something much more immediate and important.
Prominent citizens
Alf M. Landon, former Governor of Kansas and 1936 Republican presidential nominee:
It is an excellent statement… but I think most Americans will be interested in knowing what commitments, if any, were made by the President…
William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor:
It represents the basic requirements for enduring world peace. Peoples of all nations will be willing to subscribe to these principles.
Frederick J. Libby, head of the National Council for the Prevention of War:
It foreshadows peace negotiations with the Axis. I hope they are already underway.
Clark M. Eichelberger, chairman of the Committee to Defend America:
The time has come for the American people to throw their full weight into this conflict.
John T. Flynn, chairman of the America First Committee, New York Chapter:
What the American people would like to know is what Churchill demanded and what Roosevelt promised.
Right Rev. Henry W. Hobson, chairman of the Fight for Freedom Committee:
This victory code can be put into effect only after we start shooting at the enemy of all mankind.
Europe
Great Britain
Britons believed the conference concerned chiefly the Battle of the Atlantic and the Japanese situation. The Daily Telegraph, in a typical summarization, said Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill probably decided on just what parallel action they could take in dealing with events in the Atlantic and Far East.
The British propaganda machine used every facility for informing the world of the United States-British declaration. It was broadcast in 40 languages from 3 p.m. yesterday to 4 a.m. today, after which a condensed version of the declaration was started for another 24-hour run.
The Axis nations
Germany
Nazis ridiculed the “Anglo-Saxon” peace aims and claimed that they, in victories over the Soviets, were laying the foundation for the future Europe. The semi-official Diplomatic and Political Correspondence said:
Germany and its allies, warned by bitter experience, today are fighting for the maintenance of European culture which Bolshevism, supported by Churchill and Roosevelt, threatens.
Italy
Italian newspapers, as did the German, denounced each of the eight points individually, thus informing the public of the nature of the United States-British declaration. Italian newspapers said some of the points corresponded with the Axis Powers war aims, but that nothing would come of the Anglo-American proposals because they were not offered with sincerity.
Axis collaborators
France
An official statement said the declaration merely summarized Mr. Wilson’s 14 points and introduced nothing new:
…into a doctrine which almost 25 years ago might have appeared valuable.
It said:
Experience has proved that the doctrine is insufficient to insure peace and justice.
Spain
The press said the declaration was a “solemn wet paper,” and a “blood-stained joke for Europe.” The declaration was intended to win the:
…servile submission of other countries to the dollar and pound.
Neutrals
Sweden
Swedish observers believed the declaration failed ty mention some of the more important things discussed. They attached significance to the fact that the United States, which is not at war, had announced common place aims with Britain.
Latin America
Mexico
Foreign Minister Dr. Ezequiel Padilla said:
All points in the declaration are essential parts in the political tradition of Mexico.
Argentina
The influential newspaper La Prensa said that:
Apart from the section dealing with the prosecution of hostilities, the declaration could be subscribed to by all American nations.
Peru
The newspaper La Crónica said that although the declaration resembled Wilson’s 14 points, it was more concrete and realistic statement.
Colombia
The newspaper Espectador said:
The historic meeting… serves as a last warning to Hitler and his following of puppets and Quislings that the union for freedom and for peace is indestructible.
Ecuador
The newspaper El Comercio compared the conference to those of the dictator which, it said, were always preceded by:
…some new conquest and new outrage.
Asia
Japan
The declaration was a “high-handed,” “vague,” “high-sounding,” “cunning and wise” attempt to alienate Japan and small European nations from Germany. Political statements said:
Japan should not be permitted to fall into the trap.
…but should:
…proceed with its established policy.
Shanghai
Anglo-American sources said the reference to giving all nations access to raw material might induce more moderate Japanese leaders to attempt to slow down the move in the South. These sources believed the emphasis placed on Germany in the declaration might mean that the United States and Britain were willing to consider negotiations with Japan if she would abandon aggression.
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REPORTERS KEPT SECRET OF CONFERENCE AT SEA
By William H. Stoneman
How American correspondents in England, although under no special proscription, imposed a self-censorship on themselves and withheld known details of the Roosevelt-Churchill parley-at-sea, is the unusual story told herewith.
London, Aug. 15 –
The big news about Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s trip to see President Roosevelt was news to practicality nobody in England, and least of all to newspapermen, who had known all or most of the details within a few hours of Churchill’s departure.
The newspapers of Great Britain did not print the news outright, but they hinted at it and the grapevine telegraph did the rest.
American newspaper men were caught in a serious dilemma. In general, it is considered the duty of a correspondent to tell American readers everything of great interest or importance which the local censor will pass. On occasion, he may be told things in confidence on the understanding that he is not to send them, and this understanding is seldom, if ever, broken.
On this particular occasion, American correspondents were not told anything officially and there was no pledge of secrecy. As a result, it was their privilege to try to get anything past the censorship which they knew. So, having smoked out the story, they sent disconnected dispatches which, when pieced together by the editors at home, indicated beyond any doubt that the momentous meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt was about to take place.
At the same time they did not attempt to sneak through any information which might have revealed where and how the meeting was taking place. Unquestionably they could have done so, if they had tried.
What they are all wondering now is whether or not they, as neutrals, could properly have been expected to keep this secret when they were not even asked to do so, either by the American authorities or by the British.
According to every rule of honest journalism, the people of a democracy, when that democracy is at peace, should be given all possible information about the activities of their governments and its leaders. In time of war, this rule is naturally abrogated. On this occasion the British and American governments were taking decisions of the most vital importance to the American people, yet it was patent to everybody that the details could not be revealed because it would have assisted the Germans and Japanese.
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The Pittsburgh Press (August 16, 1941)
ROOSEVELT WILL DEBARK ON COAST OF MAINE TODAY
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Press conference expected after he lands; more details of meeting at sea may be revealed to public
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Rockland, Maine, Aug. 16 (UP) –
President Roosevelt will come ashore today to stiffen American resistance to the Axis Powers and set up forceful opposition to Japanese ambitions for a new order in the Far East.
Aboard the presidential yacht Potomac, Mr. Roosevelt will reach here between noon and 3 p.m. (EDT). A special train will be waiting at the docks, to hurry him to Washington, where he will arrive tomorrow. In a series of executive and legislative conferences there, he will implement the decisions reached in his sea conferences with Prime Minister Winston Churchill of Great Britain.
It was believed Mr. Roosevelt would hold a press conference upon coming ashore and perhaps reveal more details of his meetings with Mr. Churchill.
Scores of correspondents were here awaiting his arrival.
During the final hours of his cruise, the President conferred with Harry L. Hopkins, administrator of the Lend-Lease program. He has intimated a new request for funds to continue and amplify $7 billion Lend-Lease program was being deferred until he had talked with Mr. Hopkins, who has visited Premier Joseph Stalin and other Russian officials in Moscow and is presumably familiar with Russian needs.
During the night, the yacht was anchored off Deer Island, not far from here, and the President radioed Washington that he was accompanied only by Mr. Hopkins and members of his immediate staff.
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KNOX URGES CONGRESS ADOPT 8 POINTS
Durham. NC, Aug. 16 (UP) –
Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox last night expressed the hope that President Roosevelt, upon his return from his historic meeting with Prime Minister Winston Churchill, would submit the eight-point declaration of peace terms for formal adoption by Congress as “America’s principles.”
Mr. Knox reviewed the eight points in order, with chief emphasis on the points pertaining to full collaboration in the economic field, peace after the “final destruction of the Nazi tyranny,” and freedom of the seas for all nations.
Speaking extemporaneously before the North Carolina League of Municipalities, Mr. Knox reminded his audience that the United States has twice fought for freedom of the seas, and said that:
When England and America declared themselves for freedom of the seas, they meant to use their great sea power to achieve peace on the seas.
If need be, he said, they will use this power to prevent an aggressive war on a worldwide basis. He said:
You don’t achieve peace just by being peaceful, but by being willing to fight for the conditions which make peace possible.
Isolationists claim that 80% of the American people are against war. I think they understate the case. I think nearly 100% are against war of they had to vote for or against war.
The real question, however, is: Do you want to lose your liberties? Do you want security for your family and your property? Are the vital interests of this country in peril? If your liberties are in danger – if the vital interests of the United States are threatened – will you surrender them, or will you fight to save them?
If you put the question that way, and it has been put that way repeatedly, more than two-thirds of the people would answer affirmatively.
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The Pittsburgh Press (August 17, 1941)
ROOSEVELT AVOIDS QUESTION ON NATION’S NEARNESS TO WAR
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President reveals fear of subs before landing as he docks in Maine
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By T. F. Reynolds, United Press staff writer
Rockland, Maine, Aug. 16 –
President Roosevelt returned to United States soil today from his historic conference with Prime Minister Winston Churchill and said that complete Anglo-American understanding had been reached on worldwide questions arising from the war.
In reply to a question at a press conference aboard the yacht Potomac at the dock here, Mr. Roosevelt added that he would not say that the United States was any closer to actual conflict after the meeting at sea.
The President was asked:
Do you think we are any closer to entry into the war?
He replied immediately that he would not say that the United States was any closer to actual entry into the conflict. He rejected a request for permission to quote him directly on that reply.
The Potomac, which had lain off Rockland all day, docked shortly after 3 p.m. (EDT), and the President invited the White House correspondents aboard for the press conference before leaving by train for Washington.
President feared subs
The President indicated he had entertained some apprehension that the yacht might be attacked by a submarine when her position off Rockland became generally known last night. He said he had been annoyed by his secretary, William D. Hassert, announcing that the point of arrival would be Rockland.
The main points of the press conference were:
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The President’s first move after returning to Washington may be a request for additional Lend-Lease funds to augment the $7 billion of the original act.
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The President and Mr. Churchill discussed problems of every continent during their conferences at sea and made it obvious that they had outlined a plan of action for any eventuality anywhere in the world.
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Mr. Roosevelt indicated he was undecided whether he would report to Congress or the people on the conferences.
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Russia has not been asked to subscribe to the eight-point peace aims worked out by the executives at sea.
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The President made it clear that he was assuming that Russia would still be fighting next spring.
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Russia will not get aid under the Lend-Lease program because she has money to pay cash.
Harry Hopkins, Lend-Lease administrator, was at Mr. Roosevelt’s elbow as he spoke.
The President disclosed neither the time nor the exact locale of his meeting at sea with Mr. Churchill.
He indicated that the first positive development which may follow his return to Washington may be a request for a new authorization and appropriation, running into billions of dollars, to supplement the original $7 billion Lend-Lease fund.
Such a request is being studied, Mr. Roosevelt said, and it might be said that the time is drawing nearer when the request will actually be made to Congress.
Every continent was discussed during the series of meetings with Mr. Churchill, the President said. All the conferences but one, he said, were held aboard the cruiser USS Augusta. The other was held on the great British battleship HMS Prince of Wales.
Making clear that he and Mr. Churchill had outlined a course of action for any eventuality that might develop anywhere, Mr. Roosevelt said that their conferences constituted primarily an interchange of views relating to the present and the future.
But he gave no slightest indication that cooperation of the United States with Britain will be any more direct in the future than it has been in the past – that is, that would go beyond providing the materials of war for any nation anywhere which is resisting aggression of the Axis powers.
The conferences, the President said, represented officially a swapping of information which was eminently successful and which provides a point of departure in viewing both the past and the future.
Mr. Roosevelt disclosed that the conferences were originally planned to occur approximately three months ago, but had been delayed by the campaigns in Greece and Crete.
The President was attired in a gray tweed suit, with blue shirt and tie, as he received newspapermen aboard the yacht, which was tied up at Tilson’s Dock here. The conference was held in the cabin of the vessel.
Many commentators and observers, he said, had overlooked the need for a British-American exchange of views regarding what is happening in the world as the Nazi regime is being imposed upon other nations.
The more this question is explored, Mr. Roosevelt continued, the more terrible is the thought of having this regime imposed upon additional occupied nations. This question, he said, should be explored carefully by every democracy of the world.
He indicated that Mr. Churchill and his government were determined to defeat the Nazi regime no matter what the cost.
The President said Mr. Churchill was accompanied by British officials whose duties and titles corresponded with those of the American representatives. These officials held a steady series of conferences among themselves on board the Prince of Wales and the Augusta, he said.
Mr. Roosevelt would not disclose how long the conference lasted, except that it was assumed that they continued for more than one day.
As to whether he would make a report on the meeting to Congress in a special message or to the American people in a radio address, the President said he was undecided.
Speaking to the interviewing reporters, and permitting direct quotation of his words, he said:
If you give the country an exceedingly correct picture, I won’t have to go on the radio.
Most commentators overtook the question of geography and types of materials in viewing the Russian situation, he said. Russia needs, he continued, fall into two categories:
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Materials immediately available to help them during the summer campaign.
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Assuming that winter will bring at least a partial halt in fighting, materials which will be available for the spring campaign of 1942.
Mr. Roosevelt added that Mr. Churchill has no idea of coming to this country for further conversations – no more than he has of going to Britain for additional conferences.
The President said he planned to confer immediately upon his return to Washington with Secretary of State Cordell Hull. Beyond that conference, he said, he has no other plans. But it was announced earlier that he expected next week to confer at Hyde Park with the Duke of Kent, brother of King George VI of Great Britain.
One reporter asked:
Mr. President, although your joint statement with Mr. Churchill dealt with peace aims, the official posts of the men who were participating in the joint conference there contended that the subject of conversation was positive measures of action rather than peace alone.
That, Mr. Roosevelt said, is too narrow a view of the situation. The conference was primarily an exchange of views relating to the present and future – a swapping of information which was eminently successful, he said.
In discussing the Lend-Lease situation, the President pointed out that, while not all of the original $7 billion appropriation has been allocated, a certain amount of money had to be earmarked in advance for purchase of agricultural supplies on a long-range plan. On that basis, he said, the fund is beginning to run low.
The Potomac was escorted by the Coast Guard cutter Calypso. The crew was dresses in winter naval blues, indicating they had been considerably north. Beardall, the President’s naval aide, was on the quarterdeck, while Mr. Roosevelt conferred with Mr. Hopkins in his cabin.
In an obvious reference to the fact that no American newspapermen were permitted to accompany the President, one reporter asked Mr. Roosevelt whether he had named any member of his party official historian to provide a permanent record, from the American point of view, for posterity. The President replied he had not.
Mr. Hassett later explained, however, speaking for the President, that two British newspapermen who were taken to the conference by Mr. Churchill did not have access to any American information during the conference.
Mr. Hassett said:
The President did not see them. They did not take part in any conference or official meeting, They were never aboard the Augusta.
En route to Washington, Mr, Roosevelt stopped at Portland, Maine, to pick up A. E. Stephenson, special administrative assistant to Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr.
On his final night at sea, at anchor near Deal Island in Penobscot Bay, Mr. Roosevelt relaxed with a few old friends who are summering on the Maine coast. They included:
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Thomas W. Lamont, New York financier;
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Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Hamlin, old friends;
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Mr. and Mrs. A. J. Peters and their son, David;
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Dr. and Mrs. Endicott Peabody and their three daughters and two grandchildren. Dr. Peabody is former director of the Groton School for Boy where Mr. Roosevelt studied before entering Harvard.
Mr. Roosevelt said that the United States personnel at the conference included:
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Gen. George C. Marshall, Army Chief of Staff;
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Maj. Gen. H. H. Arnold, Chief of the Army Air Forces;
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Maj. Gen. James H. Burns, advocate to the Assistant Secretary of War, who is now a Lend-Lease coordinator under Hopkins;
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Lt. Col. Charles W. Bundy of the Army’s general staff;
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Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles;
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W. Averell Harriman, Lend-Lease expediter in London;
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Admiral Harold R. Stark, Chief of Naval Operations;
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Rear Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander of the Atlantic Fleet;
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Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner of the Navy War Plans Division;
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Commander Forrest P. Sherman of the Navy Operations Division.
These were in addition, he explained, on his own personal staff, Maj. Gen. Edwin L. Watson, Rear Admiral Ross T. McIntire, and Capt. John R. Beardall. Also present were two of his sons, Capt. Elliott Roosevelt amd Ensign Franklin D. Roosevelt Jr. It was strictly by chance, he said, that the sons were nearby and were able to be present.
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Winston Churchill’s broadcast regarding his meeting with Roosevelt (August 24, 1941)
I thought you would like me to tell you something about the voyage which I made across the ocean to meet our great friend, the President of the United States.
Exactly where we met is a secret, but I don’t think I shall be indiscreet if I go so far as to say that it was somewhere in the Atlantic. In a spacious, land-locked bay which reminded me of the west coast of Scotland, powerful American warships, protected by strong flotillas and far-ranging aircraft, awaited our arrival and, as it were, stretched out a hand to help us in.
Our party arrived in the newest, or almost the newest, British battleship, the Prince of Wales, with a modest escort of British and Canadian destroyers. And there for three days I spent my time in company, and I think I may say in comradeship, with Mr. Roosevelt, while all the time the chiefs of the staff and naval and military commanders, both of the British Empire and of the United States, sat together in continual council.
President Roosevelt is the thrice-chosen head of the most powerful State and community in the world. I am the servant of King and Parliament, at present charged with the principal direction of our affairs in these fateful times. And it is my duty also to make sure, as I have made sure, that anything I say or do in the exercise of my office is approved and sustained by the whole British Commonwealth of Nations. Therefore this meeting was bound to be important because of the enormous forces, at present only partially mobilized, but steadily mobilizing, which are at the disposal of these two major groupings of the human family, the British Empire and the United States, who, fortunately for the progress of mankind, happen to speak the same language and very largely think the same thoughts, or anyhow, think a lot of the same thoughts.
The meeting was, therefore, symbolic. That is its prime importance. It symbolizes, in a form and manner which every one can understand in every land and in every clime, the deep underlying unities which stir and, at decisive moments, rule the English-speaking peoples throughout the world. Would it be presumptuous for me to say that it symbolizes something even more majestic, namely, the marshalling of the good forces of the world against the evil forces which are now so formidable and triumphant and which have cast their cruel spell over the whole of Europe and a large part of Asia?
This was a meeting which marks forever in the pages of history the taking up by the English-speaking nations, amid all this peril, tumult and confusion, of the guidance of the fortunes of the broad toiling masses in all the continents, and our loyal effort, without any clog of selfish interest, to lead them forward out of the miseries into which they have been plunged, back to broad high road of freedom and justice. This is the highest honour and the most glorious opportunity which could ever have come to any branch of the human race.
When one beholds how many currents of extraordinary and terrible events have flowed together to make this harmony, even the most sceptical person must have the feeling that we all have the chance to play our part and do our duty in some great design, the end of which no mortal can foresee. Awful and horrible things I have seen in these days.
The whole of Europe has been wrecked and trampled down by the mechanical weapons and barbaric fury of the Nazis. The most deadly instruments of war science have been joined to the extreme refinements of treachery and the most brutal exhibitions of ruthlessness and thus have formed a combine of aggression, the like of which has never been known, before which the rights, the traditions, the characteristics and the structure of many ancient, honoured States and peoples have been laid prostrate and are now ground down under the heel and terror of a monster.
The Austrians, the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Belgians, the Dutch, the Greeks, the Croats and the Serbs, above all the great French nation, have been stunned and pinioned. Italy, Hungary, Rumania, Bulgaria – have bought a shameful respite by becoming the jackals of the tiger. But their situation is very little different and will presently be indistinguishable from that of his victims. Sweden, Spain and Turkey stand appalled, wondering which will be struck down next. Here then is the vast pit into which all the most famous States and races of Europe have been flung and from which, unaided, they can never climb.
But all this did not satiate Adolf Hitler. He made a treaty of non-aggression with Soviet Russia, just as he made one with Turkey, in order to keep them quiet until he was ready to attack them. And then, nine weeks ago today, without a vestige of provocation, he hurled millions of soldiers with all their apparatus upon the neighbour he had called his friend with the avowed object of destroying Russia and tearing her in pieces.
This frightful business is now unfolding day by day before our eyes. Here is a devil who, in a mere spasm of his pride and lust for domination, can condemn two or three millions, perhaps it may be many more, of human beings to speedy and violent death. Let Russia be blotted out. Let Russia be destroyed. Order the armies to advance. Such were his decrees. Accordingly, from the Arctic Ocean to the Black Sea, six or seven millions of soldiers are locked in mortal struggle.
Ah, but this time it was not so easy. This time it was not all one way. The Russian Armies and all the peoples of the Russian Republic have rallied to the defence of their hearths and homes. For the first time Nazi blood has flowed in a fearful flood. Certainly a million and a half, perhaps two millions of Nazi cannon-fodder, have bitten the dust of the endless plains of Russia. The tremendous battle rages along nearly two thousand miles of front. The Russians fight with magnificent devotion. Not only that, our generals who have visited the Russian front line report with admiration the efficiency of their military organization and the excellence of their equipment. The aggressor is surprised, startled, staggered. For the first time in his experience mass murder has become unprofitable. He retaliates by the most frightful cruelties. As his armies advance, whole districts are being exterminated. Scores of thousands, literally scores of thousands of executions in cold blood are being perpetrated by the German police troops upon the Russian patriots who defend their native soil. Since the Mongol invasions of Europe in the sixteenth century there has never been methodical, merciless butchery on such a scale or approaching such a scale. And this is but the beginning. Famine and pestilence have yet to follow in the bloody ruts of Hitler’s tanks.
We are in the presence of a crime without a name.
But Europe is not the only continent to be tormented and devastated by aggression. For five long years the Japanese military factions seeking to emulate the style of Hitler and Mussolini, taking all their posturing as if it were a new European revelation, have been invading and harrying the 500,000,000 inhabitants of China. Japanese armies have been wandering about that vast land in futile excursions, carrying with them carnage, ruin and corruption, and calling it “the Chinese incident.” Now, they stretch a grasping hand into the southern seas of China. They snatch Indo-China from the wretched Vichy French. They menace by their movements Siam, menace Singapore, the British link with Australasia, and menace the Philippine Islands under the protection of the United States.
It is certain that this has got to stop. Every effort will be made to secure a peaceful settlement. The United States are labouring with infinite patience to arrive at a fair and amicable settlement which will give Japan the utmost reassurance for her legitimate interests. We earnestly hope these negotiations will succeed. But this I must say: that if these hopes should fail we shall, of course, range ourselves unhesitatingly at the side of the United States.
And thus we come back to the quiet bay, somewhere in the Atlantic, where misty sunshine plays on great ships which carry the White Ensign or the Stars and Stripes.
We had the idea when we met there, the President and I, that without attempting to draw final and formal peace aims, or war aims, it was necessary to give all peoples, and especially the oppressed and conquered peoples, a simple, rough-and-ready wartime statement of the goal towards which the British Commonwealth and the United States mean to make their way, and thus make a way for others to march with them on a road which will certainly be painful and may be long.
There are, however, two distinct and marked differences in this joint declaration from the attitude adopted by the Allies during the latter part of the last war, and no one should overlook them. The United States and Great Britain do not now assume that there will never be any more war again. On the contrary, we intend to take ample precaution to prevent its renewal in any period we can foresee by effectively disarming the guilty nations while remaining suitably protected ourselves. The second difference is this: that instead of trying to ruin German trade by all kinds of additional trade barriers and hindrances, as was the mood of 1917, we have definitely adopted the view that it is not in the interests of the world and of our two countries that any large nation should be unprosperous or shut out from the means of making a decent living for itself and its people by its industry and enterprise.
These are far-reaching changes of principle upon which all countries should ponder. Above all, it was necessary to give hope and the assurance of final victory to those many scores of millions of men and women who are battling for life and freedom or who are already bent down under the Nazi yoke.
Hitler and his confederates have for some time past been adjuring and beseeching the populations whom they have wronged and injured to bow to their fate, to resign themselves to their servitude and, for the sake of some mitigation and indulgences, to collaborate – that is the word – in what is called the new order in Europe.
What is this new order which they seek to fasten first upon Europe and, if possible – for their ambitions are boundless – upon all the continents of the globe? It is the rule of the Herrenvolk – the master race – who are to put an end to democracy, to parliaments, to the fundamental freedoms and decencies of ordinary men and women, to the historic rights of nations, and give them in exchange the iron rule of Prussia, the universal goose-step and the strict efficient discipline enforced upon the working classes by the political police, with the German concentration camps and firing parties, now so busy in a dozen lands, always handy in the background. There is the new order.
Napoleon in his glory and genius spread his empire far and wide. There was a time when only the snows of Russia and the white cliffs of Dover with their guardian fleets stood between him and the dominion of the world. Napoleon’s armies had a theme. They carried with them the surges of the French Revolution – Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. That was the cry. There was a sweeping away of outworn, medieval systems and aristocratic privilege. There was the land for the people, a new code of law. Nevertheless, Napoleon’s empire vanished like a dream.
But Hitler – Hitler has no theme, naught but mania, appetite and exploitation. He has, however, weapons and machinery for grinding down and for holding down conquered countries which are the product, the sadly perverted product, of modern science.
The ordeals, therefore, of the conquered peoples will be hard. We must give them hope. We must give them the conviction that their sufferings and their resistances will not be in vain. The tunnel may be dark and long, but at the end there is light. That is the symbolism and that is the message of the Atlantic meeting.
Do not despair, brave Norwegians; your land shall be cleansed not only from the invader but from the filthy Quislings who are his tools.
Be strong in your souls, Czechs; your independence shall be restored.
Poles, the heroism of your people, standing up to cruel oppressors, the courage of your soldiers, sailors and airmen shall not be forgotten. Your country shall live again and resume its rightful part in the new organization of Europe.
Lift up your heads, gallant Frenchmen. Not all the infamies of Darlan and of Laval shall stand between you and the restoration of your birthright.
Stout-hearted Dutch, Belgians, Luxembourgers, tormented, mishandled, shamefully cast away peoples of Yugoslavia, glorious Greece, now subjected to the crowning insult of the rule of the Italian jackanapes, yield not an inch. Keep your souls clean from all contact with the Nazis. Make them feel even in their fleeting hour of brutish triumph that they are the moral outcasts of mankind. Help is coming. Mighty forces are arming in your behalf. Have faith, have hope, deliverance is sure.
There is the signal which we have flashed across the waters, and if it reaches the hearts of those to whom it is sent they will endure with fortitude and tenacity their present misfortune in the sure faith that they, too, are still serving the common cause and that our efforts will not be in vain.
You will, perhaps, have noticed that the President of the United States and the British representative, in what is aptly called the Atlantic Charter, have jointly pledged their countries to the final destruction of the Nazi tyranny. That is a solemn and grave undertaking. It must be made good. It will be made good. And, of course, many practical arrangements to fulfil that purpose have been and are being organized and set in motion.
The question has been asked: “How near is the United States to war?” There is certainly one man who knows the answer to that question. If Hitler has not yet declared war upon the United States it is surely not out of his love for American institutions. It is certainly not because he could not find a pretext. He has murdered half a dozen countries for far less. Fear, fear of immediately redoubling the tremendous energies now being employed against him, is no doubt the restraining influence. But the real reason is, I am sure, to be found in the method to which he has so faithfully adhered and by which he has gained so much.
What is that method? It is a very simple method. One by one – that is his plan. That is his guiding rule. That is the trick by which he has enslaved so large a portion of the world.
Three and a half years ago I appealed to my fellow countrymen to take the lead in weaving together a strong defensive union within the principles of the League of Nations, a union of all the countries who felt themselves in ever-growing danger. But none would listen. All stood idle while Germany rearmed.
Czechoslovakia was subjugated. A French Government deserted their faithful ally and broke a plighted word in that ally’s hour of need. Russia was cajoled and deceived into a kind of neutrality or partnership while the French Army was being annihilated. The Low Countries and the Scandinavian countries acting with France and Great Britain in good time even after the war had begun, might have altered its course and would have had at any rate a fighting chance. The Balkan States had only to stand together to save themselves from the ruin by which they are now engulfed. But one by one they were undermined and overwhelmed. Never was the career of crime made more smooth.
Now Hitler is striking at Russia with all his might, well knowing the difficulties of geography which stand between Russia and the aid which the Western democracies are trying to bring. We shall strive our utmost to overcome all difficulties and to bring this aid. We have arranged for a conference in Moscow between the United States, British and Russian authorities to settle the whole plan. No barrier must stand in the way. But why is Hitler striking at Russia and inflicting this suffering on himself, or rather making his soldiers suffer this frightful slaughter? It is with the declared object of turning his whole force upon the British Islands and, if he can succeed in beating the life and strength out of us, which is not so easy, then is the moment when he will settle his account, and it is already a long one, with the people of the United States and generally with the Western Hemisphere.
One by one – there is the process. There is the simple dismal plan which has served Hitler so well. It needs but one final successful application to make him the master of the world.
I am devoutly thankful that some eyes at least are fully opened to it while time remains. I rejoice to find that the President saw in their true light and proportion the extreme dangers by which the American people, as well as the British people, are now beset. It was indeed by the mercy of God that he began eight years ago that revival of the strength of the American Navy without which the New World today would have to take its orders from the European dictators, but with which the United States still retains the power to marshal her gigantic strength and, in saving herself, render an incomparable service to mankind.
We had a church parade on the Sunday in our Atlantic bay. The President came on to the quarterdeck of the Prince of Wales where there were mingled together many hundreds of American and British sailors and marines. The sun shone bright and warm while we all sang the old hymns which are our common inheritance and which we learned as children in our homes. We sang the hymn founded on the psalm which John Hampden’s soldiers sang when they bore his body to the grave and in which the brief precarious span of human life is contrasted with the immutability of Him to whom a thousand ages past are but as yesterday and as a watch that is past in the night. We sang the sailors’ hymn “For Those in Peril,” and there are very many in peril on the sea. We sang “Onward, Christian Soldiers,” and indeed I felt that this was no vain presumption, but that we had the right to feel that we were serving a cause for the sake of which a trumpet has sounded from on high.
When I looked upon that densely packed congregation of the fighting men of the same language, of the same faith, of the same fundamental laws, of the same ideals and to a large extent of the same interests and certainly in different degrees facing the same dangers, it swept across me that here was the only hope, but also the sure hope, of saving the world from merciless degradation.
And so we came back across the ocean waves uplifted in spirit, fortified in resolve. Some American destroyers, which were carrying mails to the United States marines in Iceland, happened to be going the same way too, so we made a goodly company at sea together.
And when we were right out in mid-passage one afternoon a noble sight broke on the view. We overtook one of the convoys which carry the munitions and supplies of the New World to Sustain the champions of freedom in the Old. The whole horizon-the whole broad horizon – seemed filled with ships. Seventy or eighty ships of all kinds and sizes, arrayed in fourteen lines, each of which could have been drawn with a ruler, hardly a wisp of smoke, not a straggler, but all bristling with cannon and other precautions on which I will not dwell, and all surrounded by their British escorting vessels, while overhead the far-ranging Catalina airboats soared, vigilant, protecting eagles in the sky.
And then I felt that hard and terrible and long-drawn-out as this struggle may be, we shall not be denied the strength to do our duty to the end.
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U.S. Department of State (August 25, 1941)
740.0011 European War 1939/14454: TelegramThe Secretary of State to the Ambassador in the United Kingdom
Washington, August 25, 1941 — 5-7 p.m.
3375, 3376 and 3377.The press in London and here seems uncertain about the meaning of the words “with due respect for their existing obligations” in the fourth point of the Roosevelt-Churchill joint statement of August 14. One interpretation is that these words mean that the Ottawa agreements and the American tariff are to remain untouched.
It is obvious that this uncertainty and such an interpretation should not be permitted to stand. Indeed, unless the right sort of official interpretation is immediately given wide publicity, the whole purpose, especially of this portion of the joint statement itself may be defeated. Actual and potential victims of the Axis powers will not take hope and do their utmost to resist aggression by joining forces with the United States, the United Kingdom and other like-minded nations if they gain the impression that the basic fourth point of the joint declaration is in reality an empty promise by reason of the insertion of the words quoted above.
They must be assured and be kept assured that the fourth point holds out to all people a real prospect that defeat of the Axis will mean a post-war world in which all countries will not only have equal access to raw materials which they need but also, and far more important, that they will be permitted freer access to world markets, including the great markets of the British Empire and the United States, on a basis which will enable them to acquire the necessary purchasing power for needed raw materials and other things they need to import.
The following explanation would, it is believed, meet the requirements of the situation:
In view of inquiries as to the meaning of the words “with due respect for their existing obligations” in the fourth point of the Roosevelt-Churchill statement of August 14, it is desirable that the purpose of those words be made clear. Scrupulous regard for international obligations is the cornerstone of the foreign policies of the United States and United Kingdom Governments. They have seen with grave concern the lawless disregard of obligations by certain other governments which has created the present state of international anarchy. The words quoted above show that the two Governments, in carrying out any new policy or in revising old ones, will at all times give scrupulous regard to all international obligations so long as they remain in force.
The fourth point in the statement by the President and Mr. Churchill is a forthright declaration of intention by the British and American Governments to do everything in their power, now and in the post-war period, by means of the reduction of trade barriers and the reduction or elimination of preferences and discriminations, “to further the enjoyment by all States, great or small, victor or vanquished, of access, on equal terms, to the trade and to the raw materials of the world which are needed for their economic prosperity.”
You should take this matter up with the Prime Minister immediately and say that we contemplate issuing the above statement here and express the hope that a similar statement will be issued by the British Government.
The President has seen and approved this telegram.
HULL
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U.S. Department of State (August 29, 1941)
740.0011 European War 1939/14505: TelegramThe Ambassador in the United Kingdom to the Secretary of State
London, August 29, 1941 — 2 p.m.
[Received August 29 — 9:25 a.m.]
3962.Reference to the Department’s 3375, August 25, 5 p.m., 3376 August 25, 6 p.m., 3377 August 25, 7 p.m. I have discussed statement quoted in 3376 August 25, 6 p.m. with both Mr. Churchill and Mr. Eden. The Prime Minister asked for time to consult with other members of the Cabinet before giving me a final answer. I told him that of course we understood his obligation to do that. He himself seemed to favor making the statement and is certainly in sympathy with the underlying principles on which it is based.
WINANT
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U.S. Department of State (September 2, 1941)
740.0011 European War 1939/14570: TelegramThe Ambassador in the United Kingdom to the Secretary of State
London, September 1, 1941 — midnight.
[Received September 2 — 12:45 a.m.]
4013.For the Secretary and Assistant Secretary Acheson. In the last 3 or 4 days I have had several talks with Lord Halifax. He has been so genuinely interested in trying to find ways and means to work out an economic policy that conforms with the ideas and principles that you both talked over with him, and so honest and painstaking in trying to get an acceptance of that policy in his talks with the Prime Minister and Mr. Eden and others, that I thought you should know it.
There have been four subjects that have created considerable discussion lately in the economic field.
- The agreement on Lend-Lease exports which I hope to report to you on tomorrow.
- The provisional draft of the Lend-Lease agreement.
- The discussions on the wheat agreement which have been stimulated by the agricultural mission.
- The reference to the meaning of the words “with due respect for their existing obligations” in the fourth point of the Roosevelt-Churchill joint statement of August 14.
It is on the fourth point as set forth in your messages Nos. 3375, 3376 and 3377 of August 25 that I wish to make the subject matter of this message, but I wanted you to know that all of these items have been talked over singularly and collectively by Government economists, civil servants and Ministers, with exception of the last point which the Prime Minister has taken up with the Conservatives in his Cabinet only. Any inconsistencies in these four items that might have been assumed or may exist have been a part of these discussions. I felt that for the moment at least it was our task here to do an educational job. We have done what we could to have minds meet on a basis of friendly interchange.
I feel that personally both the Prime Minister and Mr. Eden support the purpose of your statement as contained in your 3376. They each feel however that the language used in your statement would necessitate a consultation with the Dominion Governments without any certainty of acceptance by the Dominion Governments, and in my opinion are even more troubled by the possibility of an open break in the Parliament within the ranks of the Conservatives, which they believe would be unfortunate in the present war effort.
The wording of Article 4 as it stands is acceptable to all parties concerned.
Mr. Churchill has suggested that in place of the phrase in the Department’s statement:
…by means of the reduction of trade barriers and the reduction or elimination of preferences and discriminations.
…the following language should be substituted:
…by means of the reduction of trade barriers and the reduction and elimination of harmful restrictions as part of a general scheme.
You will remember that sometime after accepting the office of Prime Minister Mr. Churchill also accepted the headship of the Conservative Party. This party holds a large majority in the Parliament and is composed of many shades of opinion within its ranks. Some are strong supporters of Empire preference policies.
I feel myself that a public debate in the Parliament on a post-war issue involving the United States at this time would be unwise. There has been a growing restlessness in England in the last few days. After Churchill’s last speech there was a good deal of comment that he had said a great deal about Russia; that Russia was doing most of the fighting.
I think it may come from a realization that without the help of the United States, England is forced to remain on the defensive and unable to take the offensive so far as Europe is concerned. A lot of people here would like to get on with the war and they are beginning to feel that we are slow about coming in. We don’t mind telling each other what we think on that subject, but few of us like others to tell us. A debate in the Parliament which might be critical of the United States could not lift opinion at home. If the language in this statement is not satisfactory, I would suggest postponing a decision on the issue until some later date since it would inevitably lead to an open difference of opinion in the Parliament.
WINANT
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