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and England to report to him on the existing situation.  It was the President's desire to ascertain
 
whether there existed a  possibility of the establishment of a sound and permanent peace in
 
Europe. I wished to emphasize that my Government was not interested in any precarious or
 
temporary peace. Whatever views the officials of the German Government were good enough to
 
express to me would be regarded as solely for the information of the President himself, and of the
 
Secretary of State, and for no other individual, and in conclusion I desired to make it very clear
 
that I had, in the name of my Government, no proposals to offer, and no commitments whatever
 
to put forward on the part of the United States.  I should be so appreciative of any views the 
 
Minister desired to express to me. 
 
     Ribbentrop then commenced to speak and never stopped, except to request the interpreter 
 
from time to time to translate the preceding portion of his discourse, for more than two hours.
 
          The Minister, who is a good looking man of some fifty years with notably haggard
 
features and grey hair, sat with his arms extended on the sides of his chair and his eyes
 
continuously closed. He evidently envisioned himself as the Delphic 0racle.
 
          He started in with the subject of American-German relations. He said that relations
 
between the two countries had been steadily deteriorating for several years, and that so
 
far as the German Government was concerned, there was no reason for such a situation. It desired
 
to maintain close and friendly relations between the two countries. A year and a half ago the
 
United States had withdrawn its Ambassador, Mr. Wilson, for whom he, the Minister, and the
 
Fuhrer had the