COPY
 
 
       EMBASSY OF THE
 
       UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
 
 
       Paris, December 21, 1938.
 
 
Personal
 
 
Dear Mr. Welles:
 
 
         A friend in whom I have entire confidence, and who
happens to have close relations with the German Ambassador, 
tells me the following:
 
 
At the German Embassy reception for yon Ribbentrop
the night of December 7, he was told by members of the
German Embassy that there would be a startling publication 
in the Berlin press the following morning. He asked
what it would be. In reply, he was told that it would be
the text of the letter sent a few days previously by
Hitler personally to Mussolini assuring the latter of
full German support for Italian claims against France in
the Mediterranean area. My friend was incredulous, said
that he could not believe it, that it was against all common
since what Hitler wanted was, of course, to keep France
chloroformed so that his back door would be quiet at the
time when he would open up matters in Eastern Europe. The
 
 
The Honorable Sumner Welles,
 
Acting Secretary of State,
 
Washington, D. C.