Page:Russian-American Relations - ed. Caroline King Cumming and Walter William Pettit (1920).djvu/11



This collection of documents and papers is the result of a decision taken last summer by the Executive Committee of the League of Free Nations Association to undertake an inquiry into the relations between the United States and Russia since the Revolution of March, 1917. The responsibility for such an historical study was given to a committee of three. The general purport and spirit of the inquiry are indicated by the following extract from the letter written by the Chairman of the Association, asking members to serve on this committee:

Those responsible for the work do not pretend that even the limited objective suggested by the Chairman has been attained in any degree of fullness. The story told by this compilation is necessarily fragmentary and incomplete. Many important facts are doubtless embodied in documents which are not accessible and it is to be hoped that this collection may be supplemented by others from authoritative quarters. The documents which have been included vary greatly in value and significance—some are official and some unofficial; and the inequality in the volume of materials available for different periods gives a certain effect of disproportion to the study as a whole.

Yet it may well be claimed that these documents, here brought together for the first time, throw light on many important aspects of our recent relations with Russia. Every such piece of work, seriously and dispassionately undertaken, may be regarded as a contribution to the task of interpretation and