462.00R296/4029a: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Germany (Sackett)
86. The message from Hindenburg arrived just this morning and as you already know the President was forced to issue his statement last night. Since then the German Chargé has called in order to say that the German Government hoped that the message from Hindenburg would be kept from the press unless released in connection with President Hoover’s statement. The matter is now being considered from the standpoint of the German market’s serious condition as of yesterday and other factors. The German Government would be informed in advance if it should appear necessary to make the message public. In such an event the fact would be made clear that the message was requested as official corroboration of private reports. It would be used as an extension and partial explanation of the President’s statement. You will realize the importance of holding as strictly confidential in the meantime the information that any message at all has come from Germany.