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Frances PerkinsFrances Perkins
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was not very long, but it served to indicate that he wasn't remembering, for some reason or other. He wasn't recalling anything about the situation.

We stayed briefly, and he said he would look it up and see what the situation was. I gathered that he was gaining time, but I don't know what he was up to.

Anyhow, I went back and called Mr. Hull, the Secretary of State, to say “What about this?” He said, “Oh, he knows perfectly well what it is. He's stalling for time.”

“But,” I said, “he wouldn't even say he had sent it to Moscow.”

“Of course he wouldn't,” he said. “He's not giving away his Government, if they haven't acted on it or if they haven't received it, or if they're not going to act on it. He's not going to tell you. He acts vague about it because then you may think he's to blame. You perhaps will think he forgot all about it and put it in the wastebasket, or the lower lefthand drawer. But he's undoubtedly had it and he's undoubtedly sent it to Moscow, and it's all right. In about two weeks more, you'll follow him up again.”

So I did justs exactly that. I waited about two weeks, and then I followed up. We went again, and we were told, “Ah, yes! He believed that it had now been sent forward. There had been some delay in transcribing it, and it had had to be passed around the office here, you see, for comment, and





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