Jane Addams to William Edgar Borah, August 16, 1927

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WESTERN
UNION

BAR HARBOR, ME

Senator William Borah --
Boise Idaho

May I venture to urge you as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee ↑of the U.S. Senate↓ to point out to the Gov of Mass. the very serious consequence to our international relations of ↑which the execution of↓ [Sacco &] Vanzetti would entail. [page 2] Having lived for many years in an immigrant neighborhood & having visited Mexico & the [Caribbean] as well as Europe ↑and↓ I know only too well the ↑unfortunate↓ effect upon our ↑already strained↓ relations with Latin peoples everywhere. From time to time a concrete case obtains ↑a symbolic↓ dignity and meaning difficult to analyze but which is unaccountably recognized ↑as such↓ all over the world. [page 3] Such was the Dreyfus case, that of Edith Cavell. ↑for instance were ↑the↓ cases of Dreyfus↓ Is it not the part of statesmanship to recognize such a situation & to use it for reconciliation & understanding rather than to allow it to increase the impression that we are prejudiced & harsh to foreigners and ↑totally↓ [indifferent] to the [judgment] ↑conviction↓ & scruples  of a large number of ↑our own fellow citizens not only in many ↑other↓ countries↓. [illegible] ↓Hoping this long letter does not presume upon your [courtesy]↓

Yours respectfully Jane Addams