to come of the great physicists now resident in this country who are carrying forward these
experiments on uranium.
 
              Mindful of the implications of all this for democracy and civilization in the historic
struggle against the totalitarianism that has exploited the inventions of the free human spirit, Dr.
Szilard, in consultation with Professor E. P. Wigner, head of the physics department of Princeton,
and Professor E. Teller of George Washington University, sought to aid this work in the United
States through the formation of an association for scientific collaboration, to intensify the
cooperation of physicists in the democratic countries - such as Professor Joliet in Paris, Professor
Lindemann of Oxford and Dr. Dirac of Cambridge - and to withhold publication of the progress in
the work on chain reactions. As the international crisis developed this summer, these refugee
scholars and the rest of us in consultation with them unanimously agreed that it was their duty, as
well as desire, to apprise you at the earliest opportunity of their work and to enlist your
cooperation.
 
             In view of the danger of German invasion of Belgium, it becomes urgent to make
arrangements - preferably through diplomatic channels - with the Union Miniere du
Haut-Katanga, whose head office is at Brussels, to make available abundant supplies of uranium
to the United States. In addition, it is necessary to enlarge and accelerate the experimental work,
which can no longer be carried out within the limited budgets of the departments of theoretical
physics in our universities. It is believed that public-spirited executives in our leading chemical and
electrical companies could be persuaded to make available certain amounts of uranium oxide and
quantities of graphite, and to bear the considerable expense of the newer phases of the
experimentation. An alternative plan would be the enlistment of one of the foundations to supply
the necessary materials and funds. For either plan and for all the purposes, it would seem
advisable to adopt the suggestion of Dr. Einstein that you designate an individual and a committee
to serve as a liaison between the scientists and the Executive Departments.
 
              In the light of the foregoing, I desire to be able to convey in person, in behalf of these
refugee scholars, a sense of their eagerness to serve the nation that has afforded them hospitality,
and to present Dr. Einstein's letter together with a memorandum which Dr. Szilard prepared after
some discussion with me and copies of some of the articles that have appeared in scientific
journals. In addition, I would request in their behalf