Description:

Woodrow Wilson TLS Re: Great Britain's "extraordinary proposition" to Pool Shipping "after the war"

A 1p typed letter signed by 28th U.S. President Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) as "Woodrow Wilson" at the top of the second page. September 9, 1918. [Washington, D.C.] Typed in blue ink on watermarked stationery once bifold but now with the pages neatly separated along the crease. "The White House / Washington" is embossed at the letterhead. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds. Scattered clerical holes and a paperclip impression located along the top edge. Isolated pencil inscriptions by a former collector located at bottom right of each page. Minor feathering to Wilson's signature. The second page is a little grubby, else very good to near fine. 7" x 8.875."

President Wilson wrote this letter to Edward Nash Hurley (1864-1933), Chairman of the U.S. Shipping Board (U.S.S.B.), in part:

"…I thank you very warmly indeed for your two letters of September 7th about the transit situation and about the, at any rate affected, alarm of the British about the use of our shipping after the war. I am deeply interested to learn that Lord Reading purposes having a conference with you about pooling our shipping with the British after the war. That is an extraordinary proposition, and I think perhaps it would be wise to tell him that we are sure that it will not be possible for us to make special arrangements with any one nation, inasmuch as it is our fixed policy and principle to deal upon the same terms with all…"

"Lord Reading" referred to Rufus Isaacs, 1st Marquess of Reading (1860-1935), who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 1918-1919 while simultaneously filling the role of Lord Chief Justice (1913-1921.) Lord Reading had advocated for pooling British and American shipping after World War I, a momentous decision (or "extraordinary proposition," as Wilson put it), that would have far-reaching political, economic, and public relations implications. Wilson was not in favor of such a collaboration because of the optics of making private arrangements with one of the Entente Allies instead of with all of them.

President Wilson's sensitivity to allegations of favoritism was probably heightened because German propagandists had been circulating rumors in early September 1918 that the United States and Great Britain were making private agreements regarding the end of the war. American newspapers, like Allentown, Pennsylvania's "The Morning Call," reported that these rumors were unfounded, and that the United States abhorred "secret pacts" and "secret diplomacy."

The idea of coordinating international shipping was not a new one during wartime; in fact, the Allied Maritime Transport Council had been established in November 1917 to organize the Allied shipping efforts of Great Britain, France, Italy, and the United States. But post-war coordination was a different story. Wilson acutely understood that after the war ended, national interests would trump international alliances. Wilson's letter is telling: Great Britain might have been America's closest ally, but he also mistrusted them to an extent because they were "affected." Was Great Britain proposing pooling their resources as a way of neutralizing new American maritime hegemony? Edmund N. Hurley was tasked to find out.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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November 29, 2023 10:30 AM EST
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