763.72111 Em 1/26
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: In view of the making public of the Austrian statement in regard to the exportation of arms and ammunition, I hasten to send you a draft of reply.31 I have not had time to review it with the care I should like to give to it.
You will observe in reading it that it is presented in a popular rather than a technical manner because I think it will be more valuable for the public here in the United States than for its effect upon Austria-Hungary.
I hope you can pass upon it speedily because I believe it would, at the present moment, have a very beneficial effect on public opinion. It is our first opportunity to present in a popular way the reasons why we should not restrict the exportation of munitions of war. If you have noticed in the papers meetings are being held under various auspices looking to the imposition of an embargo on arms and ammunition. The propaganda is being conducted in various parts of the country and if continued may become very embarrassing.
Faithfully yours,
- Not printed; for text of the reply as sent, see Foreign Relations, 1915, supp., p. 794.↩