Newton D. Baker to Woodrow Wilson

My dear Mr. President:
I have had repeated cablegrams and letters from General Pershing urging that I visit our Expeditionary Forces in France, and as our plans have gone forward I have come more and more to realize the need of an actual inspection of ports, transportation and storage facilities and camps of our overseas Army.

Of course, we are constantly having officers of the several Armies returning from France with information and recommendations; but they frequently serve only to illustrate the impossibility of securing a complete view of the situation by any other course than a personal inspection.

In addition to this, the relatives and friends of our soldiers are deeply concerned to know the conditions under which these soldiers live and the environment in which they find themselves. It will be of importance if I can give comforting assurances as the result of an actual visit to the camps; and it may be that I can suggest betterments as the result of our experience here where great encampments have been built up, and a most wholesome and helpful environment provided with the cooperation of all the helpful and sympathetic agencies which the people of the country have placed at our disposal.

The various reorganizations in the War Department have now progressed to a place where I feel that they will proceed uninterruptedly with their task, and I can with more comfort than would have been possible at an earlier time, be absent for a brief time. I am writing, therefore, to ask your consent to my absence long enough to pay a hurried visit to France for such an inspection trip as I have herein outlined. My plans would carry me to France, and would include a thorough inspection of our ports, lines of transportation and communication, and camps, with a brief visit to Paris and London.

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