Robert Lansing to Woodrow Wilson

I cannot help but feel that we stand in a peculiar relation to the civilian population in the regions of France and Belgium occupied by the Germans. As we are fighting on their soil and as our own people and territory are, in a measure by that fact, spared the horrors of a German invasion, it seems to me that we should view the situation very much as if our own land had been occupied and our own people subjected to the privations and brutal treatment which for four years have been the portion of the Belgians and French.

We are receiving constant reports, the truth of which seems beyond question, that the retiring armies of Germany are destroying property and committing outrages in the territory which they are forced to evacuate, that the destruction is without any military benefit whatsoever, and that this deliberate lawlessness is inspired by malice and spite.

If these criminal acts were perpetrated against American citizens on American soil, I believe that we would be warranted in attempting to prevent it by threatening reprisals upon the territory and property of the Germans and by declaring that full reparation would be required for all property destroyed or carried away, which in no way contributed to the military advantage of the retreating armies.

If this view is correct, and I think that it is, our peculiar relationship to the French and Belgians, arising from the fact that our battlefields are on their territory and their non-combatants are suffering from German vindictiveness caused by the successes of our arms, raises the question whether it is not our right, if not our duty, to threaten reprisals unless this wanton destruction and ill-treatment by the retreating Germans cease.

We have been for some time, as you know, pressed to do this by the French and Belgian Governments, but up to now I have not had time to consider the subject except from their standpoint. I do it now from our standpoint, and would appreciate your determination as to our course of action.