ing that Kolchak would be in Moscow within two weeks;
and therefore everyone in Paris, including, I regret to say members of
the American commission, began to grow very lukewarm about peace in
Russia, because they thought Kolchak would arrive in Moscow and wipe
out the Soviet Government.

Senator KNOX. And the proposal which you brought back from Russia,
that is the Soviet proposal, was abandoned and dropped, after this
last document to which you have just referred.

Mr. BULLITT. Yes; it was. May I say this, that April 10 was the final
date when their proposition was open. I had attempted every day and
almost every night to obtain a reply to it. I finally requested the
commission to send the following telegram to Tchitcherin.

I proposed to send this telegram to the American consul at Helsingfors
[reading]:

APRIL 10, 1919.
AMERICAN CONSUL, Helsingfors:

Please send Kock or other reliable person immediately to
Petrograd to Schklovsky, minister of foreign affairs, with
following message for Tchitcherin:

"Action leading to food relief via neutrals likely within
week.--Bullitt."

AMMISSION.

The commission considered that matter, and this is the official minute
of their meeting [reading]:

AMERICAN MISSION TO NEGOTIATE PEACE,
[No. 211.] April 10, 1919.

To: The Commissioners, for action.
Subject: Telegram to Tchitcherin.

_Statement_.--Action by the council of four on the reply to
Mr. Nansen was prevented yesterday by French objection to a
minor clause in the President's letter. It is hoped that
agreement in this matter may be reached to-day or to-morrow,
but it is quite possible that agreement may not be reached
for several days.

To-day, April 10, the pledge of the Soviet Government to
accept a proposal of the sort outlined in its statement of
March 14 expires. No indication has been given the Soviet
Government that its statement was ever placed before the
conference of Paris or that any change of policy in regard
to Russia is contemplated. In view of the importance which
the Soviet Government placed upon its statement, I fear that
this silence and the passing of April 10 will be interpreted
as a definite rejection of the peace effort of the Soviet
Government and that the Soviet Government will at once issue
belligerent political statements and orde