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DICTATED

7, AUDLEY SQUARE . W.I.

is permissible: and it is always said that during his first year of office
the re-elected President is always most powerful, his enemies being
scattered, his friends still awai ting largesse, & his Cabinet often inchoate
& inexperienced. In the second year the influence of his party
begins to reassert itself, Congress finds its feet, & he himself is beginning
to contemplate retirement to private life. Is it possible that
in 1938, when Europe will be reaching a critical stage in which we shall
be deeply involved, Roosevelt - who would like to intervene to protect
democracies - may be bold enough to take action? The United States has
a horror, almost a terror, of being embroiled in European politics,
though curiously susceptible, for we read of panics on the New York
Stock Exchange, caused by European rumours, and then Wall Street discovers
that Europe has been completely calm and uninfluenced by, or even
ignorant of, the rumours concerned. Still one feels that Roosevelt is
susceptible to cosmic movements & responsibilities. He likes to contrast
the peace of the North American Continent with the turmoil of
Europe: and is there perhaps just an infusion of patronage to towards
Canada? - as he displays the friendly attitude of the powerful U. S. A.
towards its northern neighbour, there may be a certain electoral value
in these conversations with Lord Tweedsnuir, and the sentiment may be
felt though it remains unspoken. There is every sign that all & every
help, from whatever quarter it may emanate, will be valuable to those
who mean to make a continuing fight for peace.