and yet had so frequently thrown away the opportunities
 
presented to gain their requirements.
 
     The King said that of course the problem of security
 
was the outstanding problem. If that problem could be
 
solved, the world would be a very dlfferent place in which
 
live. Another great problem at the moment, he thought,
 
was lack of comprehension, and misunderstanding on the
 
part of the great powers, one of the other. He said that
 
it seemed to him that the nations of Europe were starting
 
to go down a great slide, and that every foot that they
 
traversed would make their eventual fall more rapid.
 
     At this juncture he spoke in the highest terms of
 
President Roosevelt, of his vision, of his statesmanship,
 
and of the efforts he had made to avert war. He said
 
that, of course, his own position was a position without
 
responsibility and without authority, but that he had 
 
done and would continue to do without limitations 
 
what he could in conjunction with his own Government in
 
order to further the reestablishment of peace.
 
     He said that he knew that I had talked with Mussolini,
 
of whom he spoke as a very great man. He said that, apart 
 
from Mussollni's remarkable memory, he had the great gift 
 
of grasping essentials and letting the non-essentials go 
 
by. He said that I was sure I had realized from my con-
 
versations with him, and from the conversations which I
 
was still to have with him, that the desire of Mussolini 
 
was to do what was possible to bring about the reestablish-
 
ment of a durable peace.
 
     He then referred to the privileged position occupied 
 
by the United States, its freedom from the constant fear 
 
                                                       of