Robert Lansing to Woodrow Wilson

I had a brief conversation this noon with Stanley Washburn, whom I think you know as a man very closely in touch with Russian affairs.
He told me that he thought it would be a great mistake to send any Jew at all on the Commission to Russia, that, while the new Government were endeavoring to impress the idea of liberalism in the treatment of the Jews, there was never a more intense bitterness and hostility to the race than at present, and that this feeling was especially among the soldiers at the front, the workmen and the peasantry. It was Washburn's idea that a Jew on the Commission would cast popular suspicion on the purpose of the Commission and very materially impair its usefulness.
I believe that Mr. Washburn's knowledge and his judgment as an observer entitle his opinion to careful consideration. He is a man of real discernment and not at all prejudiced or superficial in drawing conclusions.
In this connection I would call your attention to the latter part of the enclosed telegram from Ambassador Francis which you have doubtless seen. It bears out Mr. Washburn's statement as to facts.
If it seems best not to send a Jew and if Mr. Myer has been asked to serve, the situation ought to be explained to him at once with a request that he withdraw.