Confidential. My telegram No. 75 [1] of today to Commonwealth
Government. As you will no doubt have realised the position of the
United States had to be kept very fully in mind in preparation of
survey of position contained in our telegram Circular B.114. [2]
It was felt desirable not to leave United States Government in any
doubt as to the full implications of alternatives.

With this in mind we think that it would be as well for you to
explain verbally and most confidentially to the Prime Minister [3]
that the chief reasons for our sending so full a preliminary
statement to Washington (see last paragraph of my telegram
Circular B.113 [4]) were as follows:-

On one hand we did not wish to discourage tendency of United
States as evidenced by recent speeches to emergence from isolation
and on the other hand we wish to guard against a repetition of our
experience in 1932 when she maintained quite unjustifiably that
only our reluctance to take effective action had prevented her
from giving full support to the League.

We feel sure that the Prime Minister will readily appreciate the
importance of these two considerations and particularly (in view
of the present international situation) of the former.