763.72119/1775a
The Secretary of State to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: Day before yesterday I telegraphed to all our embassies and legations an extract from our note to the Serbian Minister in regard to the Slav peoples,96 and yesterday, before I received your letter telling me of the French Ambassador’s statement as to some proposal for a joint declaration,97 I had already issued to the press a statement embodying our declaration to the Serbs.
I am not at all sure but that this has been fortunate though inadvertent because by acting independently we avoid the declaration being subjected to objection and suggested amendment induced by the jealousies and differences of European politics which would result in prolonged discussions. The Allies are constantly seeking to have us act jointly with them in political matters, and this is another effort in that direction. I believe that to keep our hands free and to act independently is our best policy, since we can in that way avoid taking sides in the conflict of interests.
Will you be good enough to tell me if I have rightly interpreted your wishes in this regard?
Faithfully yours,
- See Foreign Relations, 1918, supp. 1, vol. i, pp. 815–816.↩
- For the note from the French Ambassador, see ibid., p. 816.↩