File No. 860d.48/107
The Acting Secretary of State to the Chargé in Sweden ( Whitehouse)
1203. Your 2970, October 9, 6 p.m. Same report from Naval Attaché, Stockholm. Department believes these reports should be taken with caution. Some agency, presumably the German Government, [Page 588] is filling neutral countries with rumors that Finland is being evacuated, Kaiser has abdicated, etc. Not unlikely part of a definite policy to make the Allies slow up and to dull enthusiasm for the Liberty Loan.
Please investigate further how far evacuation of Finland by German troops is a fact. Your report tallies with other information tending to show that Germans are withdrawing troops from the east for concentration on the west. This Government’s attitude regarding food supply unchanged until new facts are established.