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380 20 Jokers in the Treaty. Widespread Criticism of the Settlements. Conversations with House, Lansing, Baruch, and Others. The Lonely President. Further Personal Reflections on the Decisions at Paris. MAY 15 I went to St. Germain with Puaux and Mair this morning to complete arrangements for the press at the Chateau112 when the treaty is presented to the Austrians. It was a very lovely drive—the chestnuts, lilacs, and locusts all in bloom. We walked to the edge of the park and looked off toward Paris. I saw the Austrians in their hotel and in the street, but talked to none of them. This afternoon I went for a drive and a walk in the Bois for an hour or so with Colonel House. A long and very interesting talk. He is making desperate efforts to get the Italians and Jugo-Slavs together. We talked of the way in which the French made changes in both the treaty and Covenant without consulting anyone. He told me that the President discovered one day that the words “for the mother country” had been added to the clause of the Covenant that provided for raising troops in colonies under mandatory, making it possible, for example, if France and Britain should go to war, for each to raise, say, Arab troops, for fighting the other. Thus Arabs would be fighting Arabs for no cause of their own. When traced down it was found that Clemenceau himself had added the words—though he was not on the League of Nations Commission and had nothing to do with the Covenant, which had been already adopted at a plenary session. It took all the influence of both Lord Cecil and Colonel House to get the French secretariat to make the change. It’s a tricky business, this! 112. This was the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Jokers in the Treaty | 381 The Colonel told me that Jan Smuts and Louis Botha113 had told him that they were opposed to the treaty. It was too severe. The President is writing his message to Congress. He told me tonight that he had about three thousand words done and that it concerned only domestic affairs. How he gets strength and time to do all he is compelled to do, I can’t understand. MAY 17 Colonel House gave a luncheon in his rooms today to the group of correspondents who meet him in the evening. It was a pleasing affair. The Colonel never made a speech in his life, but he is good company at the table—and our correspondents like him. He is very human, very democratic. The Colonel and I went for a drive again in the Bois. Saw a red-hot baseball game going on at one part of the green, and so we got out and sat on the grass with the doughboys and watched it for some time. The Colonel is unhappy about the treaty, but is going forward imperturbably with the organization of the working force of the League of Nations. He has got in Raymond Fosdick,114 Mrs. Andrews,115 Whitney Shepardson116 (and probably David Hunter Miller, Gordon Auchincloss, and Hudson117 ) and my assistant Mr. Sweetser (to do the publicity work)—he is an utterly indefatigable little man. We talked at length over presidential possibilities in 1920. He thinks Wilson will never run again. I dined this evening with Frank Simonds, with whom I greatly enjoy discussing affairs. 113. Jan Smuts (1870–1950) was a South African political leader who, along with South African prime minister Louis Botha (1862–1919), led the South African Defence Force in German West and East Africa during the war. Smuts also served in Lloyd George’s War Cabinet. Both men represented South Africa at the Paris peace conference. After Botha’s death in 1919, Smuts became South Africa’s prime minister. 114. Raymond Fosdick (1883–1972) was an attorney who served as civilian aide to General John Pershing during the peace conference and later served briefly as under-secretary for the League of Nations. 115. This most likely refers to Fannie Fern Andrews (1867–1950), an American educational reformer and peace advocate who attended the peace conference as a representative of the U.S. Bureau of Education. 116. Whitney Shepardson (1890–1966) was an aide to Edward House and then served as secretary to the commission drafting the Covenant of the League of Nations. 117. Manley O. Hudson (1886–1960) was an...

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