Sympathizers with Sacco and Vanzetti were amazed at the manner in which Senator William E. Borah of Idaho, chairman of the foreign relations committee of the Senate, and believed to be more or less friendly to their cause, politely but firmly turned down the plea of Miss Jane Addams that he point out to Governor Fuller possibly dangerous consequences to international relations that would follow the execution of the two men.
Miss Addams received Senator Borah's refusal to interfere by wire at her Summer home at Bar Harbor, Maine.
The Borah telegram reads:
"Your telegram asking me as chairman to point out to the Governor of Massachusetts the very serious consequences to our international relations of the execution of Sacco-Vanzetti received. Dear Miss Addams, the fight for Sacco-Vanzetti can properly be based on innocence or unfair trial and that alone. In the testing of that question I would gladly help insofar as I could.
"But it would be a national humiliation, a shameless, cowardly compromise of national courage, to pay the slightest attention to foreign protests or mob protests at home. We all know your fine devotion to humanity, but neither humanity nor peace can be served by deferring to foreign criticism or mob violence in the execution of our criminal laws. This foreign interference is an impudent and [willful] challenge to our sense of decency and dignity and ought to be dealt with accordingly."
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