Defences: TJ.S. n il§§ BRITISH EMBASSY, mSHIHGTON, D.ft* January 20th. 1939* My Lord, %tih reference to my telegram No. 20 of the 12 th January, I hiwro the honour to transmit herewith copies of the text of the ^resident's message to Congress on defence. The proposals actually made fall short of the very largo Increases, especially in the airforoe, which the press had led the_public to expect- Figures as high as $l,6OOt0C^naad baen canvassed, instead of the #525,000,000 now asked for. 2* X have the honour to enclose notes by the Naval, Military and Air Attaches to this Htabassy on the dotal led proposals contained in the message. S« Press comment has, on the whole, been favourable, and relief at the moderation of the President's demands is commonly expressed in editorials. •Balanced" and "businesslike" are typical adjectives from New York papers. Iron the normally critical "New York Herald Tribune" calls the programme "seemingly wel 1 -calculated to meet the actual needs of the new conditions"• The Soripps-Howard "New York World-Telegram" thinks the programme is one which should and will receive support,.. The "Baltimore sun" and one or two Sffitd-Western papers feel that mora information |E "houM/ The light Honourable fit ft**, SB The Viscount Halifax, K.G».,£ pJ \ < h- i I « 3m/ ¦--S\ etc., etc, eto* VALM:CB: ACEMtMS *0- should be given about the foreign policy which these greatly increased armaments are designed to support. The "Chioago Tribune" goes so far as to deny that the danger to the United States has increased in the last three years and to argue that the President himsel f is responsible If it has. 4. A good deal of interest has been aroused by the res orted e.videnoe given to the secret meeting of the House and Senate Military Affairs Committee on January 10th by the United States Ambassadors in London and Paris, as mentioned in my telegram No. 18 of the 11th January; and especially in Mr. Kennedy1 s alleged disclosure that he was responsible for Colonel Lindbergh's reports on the German and Russian air forces and for their communication to His Majesty's Government. While conceding that importance must be attached to the Ambassador's views, the press is, on the whole* inclined to take their reported warnings with a grain of salt. On the other hand Mr. Bullitt recently told the French Ambassador that he thought the members of the Committee were considerably impressed* The timing of the secret session was certainly planned by the administration to prepare the minds of members for the President's defence message* This strategy appears to have been effective* The sum asked for is small indeed compared with what Congress w -5» is asked to vott for relief funds, sna the aessage 1* temperately arttten, with Its initial disclaimer of hysteria• The President la net likely to meet with nuoh oppoettlon except from thoee political oppelWBfcs who argue that the whole defence plan ie just a scare to throw dust in the eyes of the public whieh is gating tired of Hew Deal extravagance. If he had asked for more he night have got it from Congress, but evidently his military experts have warned him that in present conditions his programme is about as big as is practicable in the coming year* Ih this connexion I would invite four Lordship's attention to the Air Attache's remarks* 5* Aa regards the atate of public opinion at large on the question of rearmament, the 3?eaults are worth mentioning of reoei t polls taken by the American Institute of Public Opinion, whose surveys have proved remarkably accurate in the past. These have sham that eight out of ten who took part in them want to see the army and navy increased, and that nine out of ten favour a larger air-force. The surveys also show that a majority is even willing to pay larger taxes on this account* Nearly half the voters in a recent survey thought, moreover, that the United States would have to fight Germany again within their lifetime. 6. Since the foregoing ma drafted am Administration bill giving the Secretary of War authority to provide up to six thousand airplanes to the Air Corps, together with airships and balloons/ *4- ballbons necessary for training purposes hag been introduced in the House by Rep- escatatiwe Hay> Chairman of the Military Affairs Committee, and a similar measure will shortly be introduced in the Senate* The bill is reported to have been introduced in the exact form in which the War Department drafted It and constitutes the first item of legislation necessary^*© carry out the ^resident's recommendations- In outlining details of the defence progreattWe to the House Military Affairs Committee Major General Arnold, the Chief of the Air Corps, Is reported aa emphasising strongly that the programme was "for defence only...* and not for operation in the Eastern Hemisphere or for the attack of any ether eeuntryn| a3&e that it was necessitated by "world conditions now prevailing and in prospect** ?• I an sending a copy of this despatch to the High Commissioner for the United Kingdom in Canada. I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, By Lord, Your Lordship's most obedient, humble servant, (3@£$ *• &• £* tt&S&SS', SUM.Charg* d*Affaires