Cablegram D58 LONDON, 13 January 1944, 1 a.m.
MOST SECRET
Following for the Prime Minister.
My immediately preceding telegram. [1]
We feel that in view of the nature and size of his audience,
President Roosevelt’s remarks will probably reach a wider circle,
possibly in distorted form and may have repercussions. We,
therefore, thought it advisable to instruct His Majesty’s United
Kingdom Ambassador to sound a note of caution in Washington. Lord
Halifax accordingly asked Mr. Hull very confidentially whether the
President’s remarks represented a concerted White House - State
Department policy, whether the President had considered his
proposals in relation to American pledges and whether the State
Department had considered the question of French Pacific
possessions in the light of a possible post war security system in
that area.
Mr. Hull replied that he had no more knowledge of the matter than
Lord Halifax. It is plain, therefore, that the President’s remarks
did not represent any settled policy in which the State Department
was concerned. Mr. Hull said that he did, from time to time,
remind the President of the pledges given in relation to France
and added that he supposed that the President and Mr. Churchill
would be talking about the matter more closely at a later date.
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1 Document 12. See also note 9 thereto.
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[AA:A989, 43/735/302]
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