File No. 863.00/106a
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Switzerland ( Stovall)
3275. Department sends you herewith an appeal by the President to be issued through [Committee on Public Information’s] office in Berne to the peoples of the constituent nations of Austria-Hungary that have achieved liberation from the yoke of an Austro-Hungarian Empire. Please hand to Mrs. Whitehouse and say that, the President directs that she have the necessary translations prepared and widest possible distribution given this appeal. The appeal follows:
May I not say, as speaking for multitudes of your most sincere friends, that it is the earnest hope and expectation of all friends of freedom everywhere and particularly of those whose present and immediate task it is to assist the liberated peoples of the world to establish themselves in genuine freedom, that both the leaders and the peoples of the countries recently set free shall see to it that the momentous changes now being brought about are carried through with order, with moderation, with mercy as well as firmness, and that violence and cruelty of every kind are checked and prevented so that nothing inhumane may stain the annals of the new age of achievement. They know that such things would only delay the great things we are all striving for, and they therefore confidently appeal to you to restrain every force that may threaten either to delay or to discredit the noble processes of liberty. Signed, Woodrow Wilson.