It was cold and partly cloudy in Washington last week when President Roosevelt returned from Warm Springs. Rested after his quietest week since the war began, he stepped off the train to be greeted by a sober-visaged Secretary of State Cordell Hull, flanked by Under Secretary of State Sumner Welles, Assistant Secretary of War Louis Johnson. The President's quietest week was over, ended by bombs falling on Helsinki by Russia's invasion of Finland.
Cold and clear was the U. S. reaction to Russia's move. At the White House the President conferred with Statesmen Hull and Welles, spent 45 minutes with Finnish Minister Hjalmar Procope. All day reports of Russian bombings of Helsinki came to the State Department from the U.S. Minister to Finland. At 6 p.m. Mr. Hull got word that in a raid of 15 planes, bombs had fallen near the U. S. legation, that buildings within three blocks were in flames.
Next morning the President appealed to both Finland and Russia, said to both: "The ruthless bombing from the air of civilians in unfortified centres of population . . . has sickened the hearts of every civilized man and woman and has profoundly shocked the conscience of humanity." He requested an immediate reply from both countries. At his press conference the President went further, read in a grave, strained voice: "The news of the Soviet naval and military bombings within Finnish territory has come as a profound shock to the Government and people of the United States. Despite efforts made to solve the dispute by peaceful methods to which no reasonable objection could be offered, one Power has chosen to resort to force of arms. . . . The people and Government of Finland have a long honorable and wholly peaceful record which has won for them the respect and warm regard of the people and the Government of the United States." Called his strongest statement denouncing the policy of conquest and his strongest denunciation of "wanton disregard of law," it went beyond his appeals for peace when Hitler invaded Poland.
But it lagged far behind U. S. public opinion. Hostility to Russia that swept up with the German-Russian Pact, that turned into contempt at weird Russian claims of Finnish aggression, flared to new highs, led to loud demands that the U. S. break off diplomatic relations with Russia. Said Senator King of Utah: "My country will no longer grasp the bloody hands of Stalin." Said Senator Vandenberg: "There is no rational alternative except to drive every trace of Communism and Naziism out of the U. S." Said Senator Russell of Georgia, "Of all the terrible incidents of this year, this is the most tragic." Said Nebraska's Norris, "This is the worst thing that has happened yet."
Driving from Palo Alto to San Francisco, to speak at a dinner of Young Republicans, ex-President Herbert Hoover hurriedly drafted a statement that turned out to be far more effective than the laboriously rewritten speeches that he polishes when he has time. "Civilization has struck a new low with the Communists' attack on peaceful Finland. It is a sad day to every decent and righteous man and woman in the world. We are back to the morals and butchery of Genghis Khan.