CZECHOSLOVAK INDEPENDENCE
of Europe but also of the whole world, unless the United States and the Entente Powers possess the wisdom, courage and ability to solve the problem which this Empire presents, by giving freedom to its subject Slav and Latin races. A peace which will leave between twenty-five and thirty millions of the most highly advanced branches of the Slavic race to continue to suffer under Hapsburg and Magyar misrule, and which eventually will render a new war in the Near East inevitable, is a peace to which this country should not consent, until and unless it has been proved that it is beyond the power of the United States to secure a more just and lasting peace. As to the possibility of securing a peace which will give liberty to the Slavs of Austria-Hungary, it should be borne in mind that in all probability the Germans will not consent to any just peace—to any terms of peace which the United States and the Entente can possibly accept—until Germany has reached the position where she will be obliged to accept any terms of peace which her opponents insist upon. It might furthermore be said that as long as these millions of Slavs remain under Hapsburg rule, the world is not safe for democracy, and such a peace can hardly be called a victorious peace—for the United States or its allies.
Dr. Putney’s survey was completed and delivered to the Secretary of State on May 9, 1918. On May 29, 1918, the State Department made public the following declaration:
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