Pearl Harbor: The Seeds and Fruits of Infamy - Ludwig von Mises ...

Foreign Relations in an Election Year 49
fi nancial resources. Lothian was told it would have to wait until
after the election. 45 Shortly thereafter he returned to England for
a visit.
Th e impasse [with respect to Britain’s fi nancial crisis] was disguised
by the desires and explorations, of both sides, to fi nd
some way out of the maze. Th e Ambassador on his return
from London nine weeks later, reported that the [U.S.]
Administration was “still discussing ingenious ways of giving
us assistance.” 46
Th e British encountered continued vacillation in their dealings
with the United States.
Time after time the British side was told to go ahead with
orders, only to fi nd the way blocked by insuperable diffi culties.
On 20th October Purvis [Britain’s purchasing agent in
Washington] reported that in week-end talks with Secretary
Morgenthau at the latter’s home he had received “a complete
green light” for the immediate ordering of 9,000 aircraft. . . .
In the next few days Purvis and [Sir Walter] Layton were told
to go ahead with their orders on the assumption that the
Reconstruction Finance Corporation would pay for the capital
cost. An agreement to this eff ect was worked out with the War
Department. Th e admonitions to go ahead continued at intervals
through December. 47
FDR Winds Up His Election Campaign
As the election campaign continued, Roosevelt spoke to the
people more than once about his determination to keep the United
States out of the war. For example, in Chicago on September 11:
45 Ibid., p. 250.
46 Ibid., p. 253.
47 Ibid., p. 254.