"Some months ago we came to the conclusion that the interests of the United States and the British Empire both required that the United States should have facilities for naval and air defence in the Western Hemisphere against attack by a Nazi power which might have acquired temporary but lengthy control of a large part of western Europe and its resources.
"We, therefore, decided spontane ously, without being asked or offered any inducement, to inform the Government of the United States that we should be glad to place such defence facilities at their disposal by leasing suitable sites in our frans-Atlantic possessions for their greater security against unmeasured dangers in the future.
"The principle of association of interests for common purposes between Britain and the United States had developed even before the war in various agreements which had been reached about certain small islands in the Pacific, which had become important as air fuelling points. In all this line of thought we found ourselves in very close harmony with the Government of Canada.
"Presently we learned that anxiety wes also felt in the United States about the air and naval defence of their Atlantic seaboard, and President Roosevelt recently made it clear that he would like to discuss with us and the Diminion of Caneda and New-found land the development of American naval and air facilities in New-found land and in the West Indies.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.