Paris Peace Conf. 184/11
Dr. S. E. Mezes to the Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Secretary: I am sending you a copy of the chart prepared by Colonel House and submitted to you yesterday, with the modifications discussed at our conference.28
I am not sure that I mentioned yesterday Colonel House’s statement to me that he thought that some seventy-five or eighty individuals should compose the force of the Inquiry, an estimate he said he had reached after discussing the matter with you.
His further thought was that while some of this force might not be needed at once, probably most of it would be in view of two facts: first, that it would have to be kept in operation or else be lost and could probably be kept in operation best as a unified body; and second, that there was no way at present of determining the order in which the different members of the force would be needed and that they could be used, if kept as one body, to get the material into more satisfactory shape than it is at present.
Believe me [etc.]