D 558 .U6 1919 Copy 1 D 558 .116 1919 Copy 1 ion. SENATE. "7 1 N,,NI \mi:kk\n troops in Siberia. M ESS A< PROM I I! I RESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, RESPONSE TO A RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AGREED TO JUNE !3, 1919, INFORMING THE SENATE OF THE REASONS FOR SENDING UNITED STATES SOLDIERS TO AND MAINTAINING 'HEM IN SIBERIA. Jult25, 1919. Res to be printed and lieon the tabli The White Hoi Washington, July .'.'. 1919. e l'i:i SIDES I i »l III e Sen \ II Mr: For the information of the Senate, and in response t<> the olution adopted June 23, 1919, requesting tin- President t«> inform • Senate, if no! incompatible with the public interest, of the reasons, sending United States soldiers to Siberia, the duties thai are t<> performed l>\ these soldiers, h<>\\ long thej are to remain, and ieralrj to advise tin' Senate of the policy of the United States vernment in respect \<< Siberia and the maintenance of United ttes soldiers there, 1 have the honor t<> say that the decision t<> (I American troops i<> Siberia was announced to the press on <:u>t 5, 1918, in a statement from the Acting Secretary of Mate, which a cop} i- inclosed. Fhis measure was taken in conjunction with Japan and in concert purpose with the other allied powers, first of all to save the Czecho- \ak armies which were threatened with destruction by hostile ties apparently organized by, and often largely composed <>f my prisoners of war. The second purpose in view was i" Bteady ■ efforts <»f the Russians at self-deiense, or tl stablishment of and order in which they might he willing t<> accept assistance. \\o regiments of Infantry, with auxiliary troops about 8,000 ctives comprising a total of approximately 10,000 men, were sent ler the command of Mnj. Gen. William >. Graves. The troops an to arrive at Vladivostok in September, 1918. Considerably 2 AMERICAN TROOPS IX SIBERIA. larger forces were dispatched by Japan at about the same time and much smaller forces by others of the allied powers. The net result was the successful reunion of the separated Czecho-Slovak armies and the substantial elimination in eastern Siberia of the active efforts of enemy prisoners of war. A period of relative quiet then ensued. x In February, 1919, as a conclusion of negotiations begun earlv in the summer of 1918, the United States accepted a plan proposed bv Japan for the supervision of the Siberian railways bv an international committee, under which committee Mr. John F. Stevens would assume the operation of the Russian Railway Service Corps In this connection, it is to be recalled that Mr. John F. Stevens in response to a request of the provisional government of Russia went to Russia in the spring of 1917. A few months later he was' made official adviser to the minister of ways of communication at Petrograd under the provisional government. At the request of the pro- visional government, and with the support of Mr. John F Stevens there was organized the so-called Russian Railway Service Corps' composed of American engineers. As originally" organized, the personnel of this corps constituted 14 skeleton 'division units as known m this country, the idea being that these skeleton units would serve as practical advisers and assistants on 14 different sec- tions of the Siberian Railway, and assist the Russians by their knowledge of long-haul problems as known in this country, and which are the rule and not the exceptions in Siberia. Owing to the Bolshevik uprising, and the general chaotic condi- tions, neither Mr. Stevens nor the Russian Railway Service Corps was able to begin work in Siberia until March, 1918. 'They have been able to operate effectively only since the railway plan was adopted in February, 1919. The most recent report from Mr. Stevens shows that on parts of the Chinese Eastern & Trans-Baikal Railway he is now running six trains a day each way, while only a little while ago they were^only able to run that many trains per Week. In accepting the railway plan, it was provided that some protection should be given by the allied forces. Mr. Stevens stated frankly that he would not undertake the arduous task before him unless he could rely upon support from American troops in an emergency. Accordingly, as provided in the railway plan, and with the approval of the interallied committee, the military commanders in Siberia have established troops where it is necessary to maintain order at different parts of the line. The American forces under Gen. Graves are understood to be protecting parts of the line near Vladivostok, and also on the section around Verchne Udinsk. There is also under- stood to be a small body of American troops at Harbin. The exact location from time to time of American troops is, however, subject to change by the direction of Gen. Graves. The instruction to Gen. Graves directed him not to interfere in Russian affairs but to support Mr. Stevens wherever necessary. The Siberian Railway is not only the main artery for transportation in Siberia but is the only open"access to European Russia to-day. The population of Siberia, whose resources have been almost exhausted by the long years of war and the chaotic conditions which have existecl t\ •* B. AU(3 'j^ 1919 AMERICAS TROOPS IN SIBERIA. 3 there, can be protected from a further period of chaos and anarchy only by the restoration and maintenance of traffic on the Siberian Railway. Partasan bands under leaders having no settled connection with any organized government, and bands under leaders whose allegiance to any settled authority is apparently temporary and transitory, are constantly menacing the operation of the railway and the safety of n- permanent structures. The situation of the people of Siberia meantime is that they have no 3hoes or warm clothing; thej are pleading for agricultural machin- ery and for manj of the simpler articles of commerce upon which their own domestic economy depends and which are necessary to fruitful and productive industry among them. Having contributed fll( '"' quota to the Russian armies which foughl the central empires for three and one-half years, they now look to the Allies and the 1 nitcd States for economic assistance. The population of western Siberia and the forces of Admiral Kolchak are entirely dependent upon these railways. The Russian authorities in this country have succeeded in shipping Large quantities of Russian supplies to Siberia, and the Secretary of War is now contracting with the great cooperative societies which operate throughout European and Asiatic Russia to ship further supplies to meet the nee, Is of the civilian population. The Kolchak Government is also endeavoring to arrange for the purchase of medical a,l(l other Red Cross supplies from the War Department, and the American Red Cross is itself attempting the forms of relief for which it i- organized. All element- of the population in Siberia look to the United Mate- for assistance. This assistance can nol be given to tne population of Siberia, and ultimately to Russia, if the purpose entertained for two years to restore railwav traffic isabandoned. The presence ot American troops is a vital element in this effort. The services ,,| Mr. Stevens depend upon it. and. a point of serious mo- ment, the plan proposed by Japan expressly provides that Mr. Stevens :m<\ all foreign railway expert- shall he withdrawn when the tn - are w ithdrawu. From these observations it will he seen that the purpose of the continuance ot American troops in Siberia is that we, with the con- currence of the great allied powers, max keep open a necessary artery ot trade ami extend to the vast population of Siberia the eco- nomic aid essential to lt ,,, pea ce time, but indispensable under the conditions which have followed the prolonged and exhausting par- ticipation h\ Russia m the war against the Central Powers This participation was obviouslj of incalculable value to the allied cause and m a very particular way commends the exhausted people who suffered from it to such assistance a- we can render to bring about then- industrial and economic rehabilitation. \ erv respectfull) . \ ours, Woodrow Wilson. 4 AMERICAN TROOPS IN SIBERIA. Department of State, August 5, 1918. For the Press: The Acting Secretary of State issues the following statement to t press in re American-Japanese action in Siberia: In the judgment of the Government of the United States, a juc ment arrived at after repeated and very searching considerations the whole situation, military intervention in Russia would be mc likely to add to the present sad confusion there than to cure it, ai would injure Russia rather than help her out of her distresses. Such military intervention as has been most frequently propose even supposing it to be efficacious in its immediate object of deliverii an attack upon Germany from the east, would in its judgment be mo likely to turn out to be merely a method of making use of Russia th; to be a method of serving her. Her people, if they profited by it all, could not profit by it in time to deliver them from their prese: desperate difficulties, and their substance would meantime be ust to maintain foreign armies, not to reconstitute their own or to fei their own men, women, and children. We are bending all oi energies now to the purpose, the resolute and confident purpose winning on the western front, and it would in the judgment of tl Government of the United States be most unwise to divide or dissipa our forces. As the Government of the United States sees the present circur stances, therefore, military action is admissible in Russia now on. to render such protection and help as is possible to the Czech Slovaks against the armed Austrian and German prisoners who a: attacking them and to steady any efforts at self-government or sel defense in which the Russians themselves may be willing to acce] assistance. Whether from Vladivostok or from Murmansk am Archangel, the only present object for which American troops will \ employed will be to guard military stores which may subsequently \ needed by Russian forces and to render such aid as maybe acceptab to the Russians in the organization of their own self-defense. With such objects in view the Government of the United Stat< is now cooperating with the Governments of France and Gre Britain in the neighborhood of Murmansk and Archangel. Tl United States and Japan are the only powers which are just now i a position to act in Siberia in sufficient force to accomplish eve such modest objects as those that have been outlined. The Got ernment of the United States, has, therefore, proposed to the Got eminent of Japan that each of the two governments send a fore of a few thousand men to Vladivostok, with the purpose of cooj erating as a single force in the occupation of Vladivostok and i: safeguarding, so far as it may, the country to the rear of the west ward-moving Czecho-Slovaks ; and the Japanese Government hs consented. In taking this action the Government of the United States wishx to announce to the people of Russia in the most public and solem manner that it contemplates no interference with the politic* sovereignty of Russia, no intervention in her internal affairs — nc even in the local affairs of the limited areas which her military fore AMERICAN TROOPS IX SIBERIA. 5 iv be obliged to occupy and do impairment of her territorial egrity, eitfier now or hereafter, but that what we arc about to has as its single and only object the rendering of such aid as shall acceptable to the Russian people themselves in their endeavors regain control of their own affairs, their own territory, and their n destiny. The Japanese Government, it is understood, will ue a similar assurance. Hiese plans and purpose- of the Government of the I mted States V( . been communicated to the Governments of Greal Britain, ance, and [taly, and those Governments bave advised the Depart- • m (1 f State that they assent to them in principle. No conclusion ,t the Government of the United State- ha- arrived at m this portant matter is intended, however, as an effort to restrict the ions or interfere with the independent judgmenl of the Govern- mts with which we are now associated in the war. I I l- also the hope and purpose of i he ( iovernmeiit of the United ,1,- to take ;el\ antage of the earliesl opportunity to send to Siberia ommission of merchant-, agricultural expert-, labor advisers, Red .-- representatives, and agents of the Young Men's Christian sociation accustomed to organizing the besl method- of threading -fill information and rendering educational help of a modesl kind order in some systematic waj to relieve the immediate economic •c— ilics of the people there in every way for which an opportunity v open. The execution of this plan will follow and will not be •initted to embarrass the military assistance rendered to the •eho-Slovaks. l i- the hope and expectation of the Government of the United ites that the ( rovernments with which it is associated will, wherever r._ ;1 ,\ or possible, lend their active aid m the execution of these 'ary and economic plan-. o LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 018 465 584 6 # LIBRARY OF CONGRESS iiiiiiiiiiiiigiuiiiiiii 018 465 584 6 f