811.003 Wallace, Henry A/74: Telegram
The Ambassador in the Soviet Union (Harriman) to the Secretary of State
[Received June 22—12:43 p.m.]
2223. Press for June 21 prominently published Vice President Wallace’s statement released in Alma Ata. The despatch datelined Alma Ata June 19th had a prominent heading. It read in translation as follows.
“The Vice President of the USA, Mr. Wallace, released the following statement for publication in the press.
“‘Leaving your hospitable country today73 I should like to express deep gratitude to you for the cordial welcome which I have received everywhere. … I have had the opportunity of seeing with my own eyes everything that I have heard and read about the Soviet Union. I must say that my personal impressions exceeded all my expectations. I am delighted with the sweep of construction and magnificent achievement. The heroic efforts of the peoples of the USSR have been crowned by brilliant successes in all branches of science, industry and art. The successes of the Soviet Government in creating the conditions which made possible the unprecedented progress of the Yakuts, the Buriat Mongols, the Kazakhs and the Uzbeks in popular education, culture, technology and self-government made a deep impression on me. The grandeur of the valiant Red Army’s victories has inscribed a glorious new page in the history of the struggle for a free world. But besides the Red Army in Siberia and Central Asia I personally observed the no less heroic efforts of the army of workers in industry and agriculture, men and women in factories and state and collective farms who work tirelessly with skill and patriotic enthusiasm producing foodstuffs, machines and armaments for victory. I should especially like to pay tribute to the Soviet working women who, taking the places of their husbands and brothers fighting at the front, with exceptional spirit and enthusiasm and with great effort are carrying out various types of difficult work. They also find time to cultivate vast numbers of victory gardens. In the US and Great Britain it is customary these days to call all individual kitchen gardens, “victory” gardens which I saw all throughout Soviet Siberia. By their heroic labor these women are forging victory. I am glad to have the opportunity to report regarding all this to my fellow countrymen in the US. I am confident that my words will still further increase the feeling of deep mutual sympathy between our two pioneer peoples. Altho our methods of approaching the satisfaction of the need of the common man differ, our ultimate purposes are the same. Differences in the way of solving the same problems will always exist thanks to the historic past and the geographic position of our countries. But this in no way can interfere with deep mutual sympathy and close [Page 970] cooperation for the welfare of all free humanity. In the early years of my life I became acquainted with the Anglo-Saxon and Latin cultures, the chief cultures of the American continent. My present journey has made it possible for me to acquaint myself with the culture of the peoples of the Soviet Union. Soon I will get to know the culture of the Chinese people also. Only the continuation of close cooperation among these four cultures upon the termination of the present war can serve as a firm guarantee of lasting peace for all peoples.’”
- Vice President Wallace arrived in Chungking on June 20, 1944.↩