Paris Peace Conf. 184.00101/-
Minutes of the Daily Meetings of the Commissioners Plenipotentiary, Monday, December 30, 191844
1.
The Commissioners instructed the Secretary of the Commission to prepare a telegram to the Acting Secretary of State requesting him to send out an official notification to the British, French and Italian Governments of the names of the American Commissioners to the Peace Conference.
2.
Mr. Lansing brought up the question of the status, in their relation to the Commission, of Mr. Hurley, Mr. Hoover, Mr. Baruch, and other advisors. The question arose in connection with Mr. Hurley’s request for an assignment of rooms for himself and his wife at the Hotel Crillon; and also his request that the Department of State be authorized by the Commission to issue a passport to France to Mrs. Robinson, the wife of his assistant, who proposes to sail on the Leviathan tomorrow. The Commissioners decided that the question of the status of these officials should be submitted to the President, and directed the Secretary of the Commission to prepare a memorandum to the President on this subject. They also decided that until the status of these officials was settled, the Department of State, and not the Commission, should assume the responsibility for issuing passports for their families. A telegram to the Acting Secretary of State to this effect was prepared.45
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in Vienna and to make it clear that there was no camouflage connected with the sending of these agents to Austria, as they were in [Page 191] no sense propagandists, but merely observers. The Commissioners spoke to Mr. Baker after the meeting, and requested him to prepare a statement on the subject for their consideration.
6.
Mr. Lansing spoke at some length on the organization of an international council in connection with the League of Nations, which led to a general discussion of the League of Nations, the question of strategic boundaries, &c. The discussion then led to the recent election victory of Lloyd George, and the victory of Clemenceau in obtaining in the Chamber of Deputies the greatest majority vote he had ever received. It was pointed out that President Wilson alone had met with a political reserve in the recent elections at home, and that he was also handicapped by the approach of the end of his term of office.
7.
Mr. Grew submitted to the various Commissioners separately, after the meeting of this morning, the names of the following personnel to compose the second party of Political Intelligence Agents for Austria. Mr. Lansing, Mr. House, and General Bliss offered no objections. Mr. White was absent and could not be consulted.
Captain
Captain
Army Field
Captain
Army Field
Sergeant