File No. 763.72116/31
The President of the United States to the President of France
Washington , September 19, 1914.
[Telegram]
I received Your Excellency’s communication of September 101 in which you protest against the claim that dumdum bullets were made in a French Government shop and used by French soldiers, and in which you charge on your part, that such bullets have been used and other breaches of international law committed by your adversaries. I assure Your Excellency that I am not unmindful of the honor done to the United States by you in turning to it at this time of crisis as to a nation which abhors inhuman practices in the conduct of a war. In this your confidence in the people and Government of the United States is not misplaced. The time will come when this great conflict is over and when the truth can be impartially determined. When that time arrives those responsible for violations of the rules of civilized warfare, if such violations have occurred, and for false charges against their adversaries, must of course bear the burden of the judgment of the world.