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840.51 Frozen Credits/570

Memorandum by the Secretary of State Regarding a Conversation With the French Ambassador (Henry-Haye)

[Extracts]

[WASHINGTON,] September 11, 1940.

The new French Ambassador called to present his credentials, and incidentally to have a general discussion regarding several phases of international affairs.

I said that a number of us connected with this Government, including the President, myself and other associates, have for several years pursued the fixed policy of basing all of our utterances and actions on the assumption that Mr. Hitler was out to become the ruthless and utterly destructive conqueror of Europe, and that the Japanese military clique was bent on the same course in the Pacific area from Hawaii to Siam; that from the time Mr. Norman Davis came back from the Disarmament Conference and reported that the German and Italian Governments could no longer be expected to deal seriously with the question of disarmament, he, myself and others have been urging increased armaments here, and this goes back over a four to five-year period.

C[ORDELL] H[ULL]

--568--

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