Colonel House to Frank I. Cobb

I am glad my suggestion regarding making of the World and Tageblatt an international forum appeals to you and your colleagues.
The next step is to get the approval of the President and that I shall try to do at once. Of course we must have the full cooperation of both the United States and German Governments. After the President has given the word to start, we can take up with the State Department the best method of procedure.
It goes without say that the whole plan must fail unless we have assurances that whatever is written must be published verbatim, although it might be necessary, as you say, to have a private agreement as to the limits of the debate.
My thought is to make it practically an international discussion rather than one between two great newspapers, although the governments would apparently have no part in it.
It might be well to have an advisory council to help select the questions to be argued, and the manner of their presentation and also the replies to the German arguments which would be made. You, of course, to do the actual writing. In this council might be included Northcliffe, Tardieu, and perhaps Simkovitch of Columbia. The discussion would immediately take on an international importance hard to estimate.
Pending a reply from the President, will you not let me have any further thoughts that come to you.

Magnolia, Massachusetts.
July 19, 1917.