14 June, 1942.                       
 
                                                            
 
 
                   My dear Mr. President,                   
 
                                                            
 
 
For a long time I have watched with grateful admiration the 
      vast stream of gifts which from the first days of the War has 
      been flowing from America to Great Britain for the relief of 
      suffering and the succor of distress, and in a volume which has 
      barely lessened as a result of the advent of war to America, 
      though a considerable diminution of it was well to be expected. 
      The generosity of these gifts, each one of which represents a 
      personal sacrifice by an individual, is overwhelming and without 
      precedent. I am therefore anxious in the first place to express 
      to you, Mr. President, the profound gratitude of the British 
      people, and shall be glad if there is some way in which you may 
     see fit to pass my feelings along to the American publi
 
                                                            
 
 
My second purpose in addressing you today is unhappily one 
      of informing you that we now feel under