Paris, January 6, 1919

“Whither then are you speeding, Russia of mine?” asked Gogol in 1841. I quote him and shall endeavor to give some of the very contradictory answers that are given me here today.

The Russian groups are sweeping down upon me in ever-increasing numbers. I give them a loose rein, and after they have delivered themselves of what they have to say, more or less exhausted they retire. I remain silent. I am at the receiving end, but when I have to say something, I confine my words to the President’s Russian message of 1917. Then it had an excellent reception, but today it would seem to have lost its savor.

In his clarion call Mr. Wilson said: “The day has come to conquer or submit; if the forces of autocracy can divide us, we shall be overcome; if we stand together, victory is certain and also the liberties which only victory can secure. Then we could afford to be generous, but now we cannot afford to be weak or omit a single guarantee of justice and security. We are fighting for no selfish object but for the liberation of peoples everywhere from the aggression of autocratic forces.”

It has been well said that the voice of Wilson was the voice of freedom, but it should be admitted that he spoke a language which more than 99 per cent of the Russian people at that time did not understand. His objective was splendidly stated, but in the same manifesto, as though at last seeing the obstacles in his path (among them the mountains of ignorance which would have to be surmounted), he added: “Practical questions can only be settled by practical means; phrases will not right wrongs; remedies must be found as well as statements of principles that have a pleasing sound.” Well, I keep that manifesto on my desk in Russian, in French, and in a number of other languages. It is our avenue of approach to the Russian problem, also our point of departure when and if we give it up.

Of course the present, the new rulers of Russia are ruling by the only methods they have any knowledge of, those of the tyrant and the autocrat, and this is perhaps, as many think, the only ideology that the liberated but still benighted serfs can understand. In his talk with the Colonel several days ago, Iswolsky, long ambassador for the Tsar in Paris and twice minister of Foreign Affairs, amazed the Colonel, and he is not easily surprised, by stating:

“From 1906 on we were working toward democracy, the grave need of which the disasters in the war with Japan disclosed. With this purpose, my august master summoned the First Duma; its members were incompetent, the outcome was disgraceful, and he ‘discharged’ it. He then convened the Second Duma; if possible, it was still more incompetent and disgraceful in its behavior, and he dispersed it. The Tsar was still with infinite patience seeking another and perhaps a better way to share his burdens with the people when the hoodlums got the upper hand and—well, you know what happened.”

I am afraid there are many who share Iswolsky’s depressing thoughts and carry them out to what they consider their logical conclusion. Better to have had no revolution at all than the anarchy with which the Russian people are now confronted—and also their neighbors.

Here I shall make as plain as I can how our negotiations with the Soviets got under way and also the circumstances under which they bogged down. Hopefully, President Wilson fired the opening salute on March 11, 1918, with this cable to the Soviet Congress recently assembled. It reads:

May I not take advantage of the meeting of the Congress of the Soviets to express the sincere sympathy which the people of the United States feel for the Russian people at this moment when the German power has been thrust in to interrupt and turn back the whole struggle for freedom, and substitute the wishes of Germany for the purpose of the people of Russia?

The whole heart of the people of the United States is with the people of Russia in the attempt to free themselves forever from autocratic government and become the masters of their own life.

Four days later (March 15, 1918) the following reply was received from Moscow:

The Russian Socialistic Federative Republic of Soviets takes advantage of President Wilson’s communication to express to all peoples perishing and suffering from the horrors of imperialistic war its warm sympathy and firm belief that the happy time is not far distant when the laboring masses of all countries will throw off the yoke of Capitalism and will establish a socialistic state of society which alone is capable of securing just and lasting peace, as well as the culture and well-being of all laboring people.

In his confidential file, there is a note in the Colonel’s handwriting. “That is a tough one to answer! I think formal correspondence had best be discontinued.” And as a matter of fact, it was. Some weeks later Mr. Francis, our envoy in Moscow, wrote: “I am informed that Zinoviev, the Soviet Foreign Minister, boasted that ‘with these words we slapped President Wilson in the face.’ ”