Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, The Paris Peace Conference, 1919, Volume I

Paris Peace Conf. 184/10

Memorandum Presented to the Commissioners Plenipotentiary by General Tasker H. Bliss ⁴¹

undated

The American Peace Commission should do whatever is necessary to make it clearly understood by everyone that, now that the war is finished and until it should be resumed (which God forbid), this Commission is the highest and most important governmental agency of the United States now in Europe.

It is, therefore, recommended:

(1) That approval of the Commission be given to the proposition already made that the Secretary of the Commission be given a title which will place him on the same plane of dignity as in the case of the British Commission.

(2) That the first few minutes of each meeting of the Commission be devoted to the transaction of routine business connected with its interior administration; that during this time (if not longer) the Secretary (by whatever title he may be designated) of the Commission be present to report what may be of interest to the Commission in regard to the organization of its assistant-personnel, &c; and that in all communications written by him which are in the nature of instructions to anyone or requests that any American official do anything, for the Commission, he precede his official signature by the formula, “By Direction of the American Peace Commission.”

(3) Incidentally, it is suggested that it might be well to keep a very brief, formal record of every meeting of the Commission, stating the matters discussed and the conclusions, tentative or final, reached. Experience with the Supreme War Council indicates that this is the practice of the Allied Governments in the work of commissions of importance.

(4) It is believed that there is a tendency to overload the Commission with unnecessary assistant-personnel resulting not only in having two or more men to do one man’s work but in considerable unnecessary expense charged for the maintenance of the Commission. It is possible, for example, that there may be military or other officials whose opinion may not be asked three times, if at all, by the Commission or by any member of it during its lifetime. At the Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Force there is a very fine and highly trained organization devoted to the collection of data and the preparation of memoranda on military subjects of all kinds. The Commander-in-Chief of the American Expeditionary Forces in France has stated that he will place at the disposition of the Commission all assistance under his control. There is a daily courier service between Paris and his headquarters. A question requiring a military opinion can be formulated today and by the first hour in the morning will be in the hands of that highly trained, specialized organization. In many cases the reply will be on its return to Paris the same night. This, undoubtedly, is the way in which such matters will be handled by the French Peace Commission. They will be referred to the French General Staff in Paris for its opinion. We have a similar and equally competent General Staff at Chaumont to pass on military questions. All that is required here is a very small and carefully selected personnel that will keep in touch with the duties of the Commission or of its individual members, will formulate the necessary questions and will have them transmitted to Chaumont. Manifestly it would be entirely unnecessary to bring that specialized staff from Chaumont to Paris and maintain it here at the expense of the Commission.

It is, therefore, recommended that the most careful scrutiny be directed by the Commission to be made by the Head of each Section as to the necessity of maintaining the personnel now under his charge.

It is further recommended that from this moment no addition be made to the assistant-personnel of the American Peace Commission except upon formal recommendation made by the Head of the Section or bureau concerned showing the necessity for the person desired and his qualifications for the position, which recommendation shall be presented to the Commission and acted upon by it.

41. The copy of this document in the Department’s files is undated and unsigned. It is stated in General Bliss’ diary that he presented the memorandum to the Commissioners Plenipotentiary on Dec. 23, 1918.