HOBCAW [1], 25 April 1944

TOP SECRET

MEMORANDUM

The President entertained Prime Minister Curtin at lunch today.

After luncheon the President was closeted with the Prime Minister
for nearly an hour. The President directs that the following
notation be made a part of the files of the Pacific War Council:

'In the course of conversation after lunch, Prime Minister Curtin
expressed concern lest the accounts published about the agreement
between Australia and New Zealand concerning the future control of
the Pacific might be misunderstood and possibly resented in the
United States and in the United Kingdom. He wished to explain to
the President what had brought about the agreement. President
Roosevelt said that he thought he had already figured out what had
occurred. His guess is that Prime Minister Curtin had had very
little to do with the drafting but that Evatt had done most of it
and others had merely agreed. Curtin said that was exactly right:

that a group had discussed the future of the white man in the
Pacific and that they had all disapproved of the Government's
India policy and feared that unless properly handled China might
turn against all white men. While pursuing this theme the proposal
for an agreement between Australia and New Zealand was made and
carried in what may well prove to be an excess of enthusiasm.'
'President Roosevelt directs that the record show that his present
opinion is that it will be best for us to forget the whole
incident. He told Curtin he hoped he would attend a Pacific War
Council meeting when he returned to the United States.'

W. BROWN