Jane Addams and Sophonisba P. Breckinridge to Woodrow Wilson, January 23, 1917

January 23rd, 1917.

MAY WE EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE BOTH FOR YOUR BRILLIANT STATEMENT OF THE HOPES OF MODERN INTERNATIONALISTS AND THAT YOU HAVE PLACED BEFORE THE WORLD WELL CONSIDERED STANDARDS BY WHICH THE WARRING NATIONS MUST ULTIMATELY TEST THEIR CLAIMS AND BEWILDERED NEUTRALS JUDGE OF PROPOSED TERMS OF SETTLEMENT STOP WHEN WE RECALL CERTAIN LIBERAL GROUPS BOTH IN ENGLAND AND GERMANY WHO ARE HARD PRESSED BY THE [MILITARISTS] WE CAN IMAGINE THAT YOUR MESSAGE COMES TO THEM AS IF YOU HAD HELD OUT A CUP OF COLD WATER.