Meanwhile Mr. Hoover and Mr. Auchincloss had the idea of approaching
peace with Russia by a feeding proposition, and they had approached
Mr. Fridjof Nansen, the Arctic explorer, and got him to write and send
the following letter to the President. You doubtless have seen his
letter to the President.
PARIS, April 3, 1919.
MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: The present food situation in Russia,
where hundreds of thousands of people are dying monthly from
sheer starvation and disease, is one of the problems now
uppermost in all men's minds. As it appears that no solution
of this food and disease question has so far been reached in
any direction, I would like to make a suggestion from a
neutral point of view for the alleviation of this gigantic
misery on purely humanitarian grounds.
It would appear to me possible to organize a purely
humanitarian commission for the provisioning of Russia, the
foodstuffs and medical supplies to be paid for, perhaps, to
some considerable extent by Russia itself, the justice of
distribution to be guaranteed by such a commission, the
membership of the commission to be comprised of Norwegian,
Swedish, and possibly Dutch, Danish, and Swiss
nationalities. It does not appear that the existing
authorities in Russia would refuse the intervention of such
a commission of wholly nonpolitical order, devoted solely to
the humanitarian purpose of saving life. If thus organized
upon the lines of the Belgian Relief Commission, it would
raise no question of political recognition or negotiations
between the Allies with the existing authorities in Russia.
I recognize keenly the large political issues involved, and
I would be glad to know under what conditions you would
approve such an enterprise and whether such commission could
look for actual support in finance, shipping, and food and
medical supplies from the United States Government.
I am addressing a similar note to Messrs. Orlando,
Clemenceau, and Lloyd George. Believe me, my dear Mr.
President,
Yours, most respectfully,