763.72/3761½c
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: I send you a draft of a proclamation combining the one prepared by me and the one suggested by the Attorney General.34
Frankly I do not like the idea of one proclamation because the two original proclamations are addressed to different classes, the one citizens; the other, aliens.
As a matter of preference I would issue the proclamation of the state of war at once on the adoption of the resolution by Congress and let the one dealing with enemy aliens issue on the next day. It seems to me that the force gained by a short proclamation such as the one addressed to the American people is lost by appending statutory provisions and regulations governing aliens.
I have, with this idea of two proclamations in mind, re-drafted the first part of the proclamation suggested by the Attorney General to fit the circumstance of the previous issuance of a proclamation declaring a state of war.
As soon as you can return the papers indicating which course you desire to follow we will prepare the same for signature.
Faithfully yours,
- Draft not printed; for the proclamation as issued, see Foreign Relations, 1918, supp. 2, p. 165.↩