LONDON, March 13, 1940
 
     Mr. James Maxton, leader in the House of Commons
 
of a group of four dissident members of the Labor Party,
 
called upon me at 3 p.m. at the Embassy.
 
     Mr. Maxton is a sinister looking individual, with
 
a gray face, very long hair falling about his shoulders,
 
and the eyes and mouth of a fanatic.
 
     The opinion of his group, he said, was that the
 
present war was a criminal blunder. The negotiation of
 
peace should be undertaken without delay, and the bases
 
for such a negotiation should comprise complete disarmament,
 
the establishment of an international police force, the
 
complete pooling of colonial territories to the benefit
 
of all peoples, and the abolition of customs barriers.
 
Upon such a basis he believed territorial or political
 
questions could readily be solved.
 
     He expreseed the earnest hope that President
 
Roosevelt would lead a movement for peace. He saw no
 
other possibility of averting a disastrous and fatal war
 
of complete devastation.