763.72119/35½d
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: I beg to submit for your consideration the following:
- (a)
- The war is throwing a heavy burden upon the United States and deranging business. The cotton growers have suffered a loss of not less than $100,000,000 by the restriction of their market; several other lines of industry have suffered severely; the loss to business generally, due to a suspension of credits, has amounted to many hundreds of millions. The Government has been compelled to resort to new forms of taxation to make good the decrease in import duties.
- (b)
- Transportation is interrupted both on land and sea and the railroad situation is likely to become embarrassing.
- (c)
- Delicate questions are constantly arising in connection with our efforts to maintain neutrality. These may not only affect our relations with the belligerents but they disturb political conditions in this country and threaten to turn attention from our economic problems.
2nd. We owe it to other neutral nations to do everything in our power to bring the war to a close. They are suffering relatively more than we are and are less able than we to endure the hardships which, without their fault, have been thrown upon them. Complaint has already been made against some of the neutral nations that they have not enforced neutrality; other neutral nations are complaining of the acts of belligerents in interfering with neutral commerce—the friction and irritation are increasing. These neutral nations look to us to represent the third party—“the bystanders” who, though innocent, suffer while the combatants fight.
3rd. We owe it to the belligerent nations, as a friend to all of them, to earnestly advise them to consider the peaceful settlement of their differences. Their feelings are so deeply stirred that they take counsel of their anger rather than of their sober judgment; they cannot consider the question with calmness and their pride will not allow them to ask mediation—the offer must come from us.
Four months have elapsed and each of the nations at war has witnessed a failure of its plans and calculations—the uncertainty of the result must now be apparent to all. The chance is decreasing that either side can win such a decisive victory as to enable it to dictate terms, and even if either side should win such a victory the peace that would follow would be built upon fear, and history proves that permanent peace can not be built upon such a foundation.
Mediation does not mean that any of the combatants shall accept terms that are unsatisfactory, but that they shall propose terms, and [Page 11] surely these Christian nations ought to be willing to state to the world the terms upon the acceptance of which they are willing to cease hostilities, leaving responsibility for a continuance of the war to rest upon those who propose unreasonable terms or reject reasonable terms. All disclaim responsibility for the beginning of the war and there is no tribunal to fix the blame, but responsibility can be fixed for a continuation of the war if any nation is unwilling to state its terms or if, in stating its terms, it makes demands which are not just and fair.
When, at the beginning of the war, you proposed mediation, none of the nations expressed a willingness to consider a conference, but now, after appalling losses on both sides; now when all must confess failure to accomplish what they expected; now when the cup of sorrow is overflowing and when new horrors are being added daily, it would seem to be this nation’s duty, as the leading exponent of Christianity and as the foremost advocate of worldwide peace, to approach the warring nations again and earnestly urge them to consent to a conference with a view to coming to an understanding which will enable them to lay down their arms and begin the work of reconstructing a permanent peace on the basis of justice and friendship.
With assurances [etc.]