Dear Ambassador,
Progress about the house is desperately slow. Fairweather was laid up for some time after his return and it was only two or three days ago that he made his official report about the Villa Spada. It was impossible to make any headway without that. Fairweather's report was a very good one and he came down flatly in favour of the Villa Spada. The Taoiseach, who up to that had been rather appalled by the price, was greatly impressed by Fairweather's opinion that, on the whole, the purchase would be a sound investment. The architectural plans are with the Taoiseach now and he is taking an interest in the matter personally. That will probably fix the matter so far as the Commissioners of Public Works are concerned because, no doubt, Joe Connolly¹ will be influenced by the Taoiseach's view. But the Department of Finance have yet to be tackled.

What I am more afraid about than anything, so far as the Department of Finance is concerned, is the dollar requirement. Sarsfield Hogan told me the other day that they were unable to provide either dollars or Swiss francs for motor cars for you and Kiernan. I spoke to McElligott, only to find that the decision was primarily his and he proved quite immoveable. It is becoming quite clear now that the real difficulty in the Department of Finance is the Minister himself.² He is more obstinate about the Department of Finance point of view than any of his predecessors and has a mania for economy. You may remember his effort early in the war to get a three-man commission set up (consisting of Todd Andrews,³ Weckler⁴ and my father⁵) with plenary powers to reduce Government expenditure. He is apparently, of the same mind still and his personal influence is making itself very much felt. I think that this is the real explanation of what happened in connection with that matter about which I spoke to McElligott and Seán Moynihan before your appointment.

I know how annoying these delays must be to you. I can only assure you that we are doing our best and that, at least as regards the Villa Spada, there are still good prospects of a favourable decision.

We are up to our ears preparing for the Estimates which we expect to be taken next week. The indications are that the question of the Republic and the Commonwealth will be raised and debated all over again. You may have seen that, in reply to a question by Dillon,⁶ the Taoiseach has agreed to place the text of the form of letter of credence at present issued to our diplomatic representatives abroad in the Library of the Oireachtas. The specimen text which will be used for the purpose will be based on your letter of credence.

The indications are that David Gray is returning to Dublin in the near future - that a great effort was made to get rid of him but that the Roosevelt influence proved too strong.

The British have agreed to allow 100 German children to come here from the British zone. In the meantime, we find that, when he was recently in France, Conor Maguire⁷ undertook to take 300 more French children, and it is proposed to put them in Glencree. For the moment, therefore, there is no place to put the German children. The Archbishop, whom I have seen three or four times since you went, has become very critical indeed of the Red Cross and feels that their work as regards the reception of refugee children is not being well-run.

Rivière came in here the week before last with a rather stiff-necked demand for an early reply to the Notes about Axis assets and the expulsion of the staff of the former Legation. I gave him no satisfaction, so he asked to see the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach was prepared for the interview and gave Rivière a pretty good roasting. Rivière does not improve on acquaintance and is spending more and more of his time with people like Colonel Charteris.⁸

We are looking forward to having your report of your reception by the Holy Father and the presentation ceremony. We would like to hear from you regarding the relations of the Vatican with the Polish Government in Warsaw. The latter seem very anxious to establish relations with us, but I think a lot of people here would feel very dubious about admitting a Legation which might be used as a cover for Russian fifth-column activities.

Michael [Rynne] is leading the delegation at the Maritime Conference at Seattle, and Seán Leydon is just back from Montreal. Aer Lingus are making their inaugural flight on the Dublin-Paris route next Monday, leaving here in the morning and getting back the same evening. The Tánaiste is going, and I hope to be able to join the party. I would be glad of the opportunity of seeing Seán.