FIRST SESSION OF PEACE CONGRESS—CLEMENCEAU, PERMANENT CHAIRMAN—PRESIDENT WILSON'S ADDRESS—THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS COVENANT COMPLETED

The Peace Congress held its first session at 3 o'clock in the afternoon on January 18, 1919, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris. The scene of this historic event upon which the interest of the world centered was the former Salle d'Horloge, renamed for the occasion Salle de la Paix, one of the most magnificent reception rooms in all Europe.

The French Government had made careful preparation of the chamber for every need of the assembly, and in a manner worthy of such a gathering.

For the opening session seventy-two seats were provided, the Japanese, the British and Colonial delegates, and the fifth British delegate were on the outer side of the great horseshoe. To the right of the table of honor a seat was reserved for the fifth American delegate.

The delegates representing Italy, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Peru, Portugal, Serbia, Czecho-Slovakia, and Uruguay were seated in the order named.

At the left wing of the table sat the delegates of Siam, Rumania, Poland, Liberia, Hedjaz, Ecuador, China, and Bolivia.

A striking object among the decorations of the splendid chamber was a heroic marble statue of Peace holding aloft the torch of Civilization which stood behind the chair of Premier Clemenceau.

A council table of horseshoe form, covered with green baize, stood directly before the statue. Nine seats of honor had been prepared at the upper end of the table for the presiding officer, the vice presidents and the premiers. On each side of the wings of the great horseshoe there were fifteen seats, making sixty in all, in addition to the nine seats of honor at the head of the table.

The seats, upholstered in leather of a vivid crimson, served to emphasize and throw into relief the figures of the representatives in somewhat somber attire. The walls of the chamber were decorated in white and gold and from the ceiling, whose borders were frescoed with dancing Cupids in pastel shades, hung four great crystal chandeliers. An abundance of light from five large windows overlooking the Seine made it possible for the delegates to read and write in any part of the hall. From the council room there opened another sumptuous apartment overlooking the gardens where the delegates could retire for consultations. Adjoining was a superbly furnished dining room, where meals could be served when protracted meetings were held.

Long before the Peace Congress began its session the Quai d'Orsay was thronged with people, their eyes fixed on the windows of the Salle de la Paix. The Palais Bourbon and the Foreign Office were protected by a line of troops, and a special guard of honor was drawn up near the entrance to the Foreign Office, the delegates passing through a double file of soldiers. Each arrival was the signal for a fanfare of trumpets and full military honors from the troops on guard. President Wilson's appearance a few minutes before the time fixed for the opening of the session was the occasion for a remarkable demonstration of good will on the part of the crowd. The President joined M. Pichon, the French foreign minister, in the anteroom and was conducted to the council chamber. At the table of honor Mr. Wilson was joined by Secretary Lansing, Mr. White, and General Bliss, and exchanged greeting with other delegates. President PoincarÉ entered the chamber at 3 o'clock, and the entire assembly stood up as he delivered his address, which was in French. After he had concluded, an interpreter read the speech in English.

In the course of his remarks, which were delivered with calm earnestness, M. PoincarÉ, after greeting the delegates in the name of the French Republic, reviewed the course of the war, placing on Germany the guilt of premeditation in plunging the world into frightful disaster for the purpose of spoils and conquest. He praised the Allies for the mighty efforts they had made to crush the German menace, and dwelt on America's unselfishness in entering the world war in defense of free ideals.

In conclusion he spoke warmly in favor of the League of Nations, which would be a supreme guaranty against any fresh assault upon the rights of peoples. M. PoincarÉ then declared the congress open and retired.

Georges Clemenceau, the French premier, was elected permanent chairman of the conference. Speeches by President Wilson, Premier Lloyd-George, and Baron Sonnino expressed the desire of the representatives of the different nations to reach a friendly understanding with respect to the problems that were to be decided at the conference.

President Wilson, in proposing Premier Clemenceau for the permanent chairmanship, said:

"It gives me great pleasure to propose as permanent chairman of the conference Mr. Clemenceau, the president of the council.

"I would do this as a matter of custom. I would do this as a tribute to the French Republic. But I wish to do it as something more than that. I wish to do it as the tribute to the man.

"France deserves the precedence, not only because we are meeting at her capital, and because she has undergone some of the most tragical suffering of the war, but also because her capital, her ancient and beautiful capital, has so often been the center of conferences of this sort, on which the fortunes of large parts of the world turned. "It is a very delightful thought that the history of the world, which has so often been centered here, will now be crowned by the achievements of this conference—because there is a sense in which this is the supreme conference of the history of mankind.

"More nations are represented here than were ever represented in such a conference before. The fortunes of all peoples are involved. A great war is ended which seemed about to bring a universal cataclysm. The danger is past. A victory has been won for mankind, and it is delightful that we should be able to record these results in this place.

"But it is more delightful to honor France, because we can honor her in the person of so distinguished a servant. We have all felt in our participation in the struggles of this war the fine steadfastness which characterized the leadership of the French in the hands of Mr. Clemenceau. We have learned to admire him, and those of us who have been associated with him have acquired a genuine affection for him.

"Moreover, those of us who have been in these recent days in constant consultation with him know how warmly his purpose is set toward the goal of achievement to which all our faces are turned. He feels as we feel, as I have no doubt everyone in this room feels, that we are trusted to do a great thing, to do it in the highest spirit of friendship and accommodation, and to do it as promptly as possible in order that the hearts of men may have fear lifted from them, and that they may return to those purposes of life which will bring them happiness and contentment and prosperity.

"Knowing his brotherhood of heart in these great matters, it affords me a personal pleasure to propose that Mr. Clemenceau shall be the permanent chairman of this conference."

In accepting the presidency of the congress M. Clemenceau expressed his gratification for the honor paid him and outlined the principal questions which the conference must decide. The three principal subjects of these were, he said, responsibility of the authors of the war, responsibility for the crimes committed during the war, and international labor legislation. The League of Nations would lead the program at the next full session. Mr. Lloyd-George, who seconded Mr. Wilson's motion, and Baron Sonnino, the Italian foreign minister, paid tribute to M. Clemenceau's courage, energy, and inspiration which had helped the Allies to bring the war to a triumphant conclusion.

At this session the regulations governing the conference proceedings were adopted. The following were the regulations regarding the composition of the congress:

The belligerent Powers with general interests—the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan—shall take part in all meetings and commissions.

The belligerent Powers with particular interests—Belgium, Brazil, the British Dominions, and India, China, Cuba, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Siam and the Czecho-Slovak Republic—shall take part in these sittings at which questions concerning them are discussed.

The Powers in a state of diplomatic rupture with the enemy powers—Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay—shall take part; in the sittings at which questions concerning them are discussed.

The neutral Powers, and states in process of formation, may be heard either orally or in writing, when summoned by the Powers with general interests at sittings devoted especially to the examination of questions directly concerning them, but only so far as these questions are concerned.

The representation of the different Powers was fixed as follows:

Five for the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan; three for Belgium, Brazil, and Serbia; two for China, Greece, the king of the Hedjaz, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Siam, and the Czecho-Slovak Republic; one for Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, and Panama; one for Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay.

The British Dominions and India were to be represented as follows:

Two delegates each for Australia, Canada, South Africa, and India, including the native states; one delegate for New Zealand. Although the number of delegates must not exceed the above figures, each delegate had the right to avail himself of the panel system, by which the representatives of the Dominions, New Zealand, and India might be included in the representation of the British Empire.

Montenegro would be represented by one delegate as soon as the political situation of the country was cleared up. The conference would fix the representation of Russia at the moment when the matters concerning Russia were examined.

It was further decided that the secretariat should be appointed from outside the plenipotentiaries, composed of one representative of the United States of America, one of the British Empire, one of France, one of Italy, and one of Japan.

It was decided that the publicity of the proceedings should be assured by official communiques prepared by the secretariat and made public. In case of a disagreement as to the drafting of these communiques the matter should be referred to the principal plenipotentiaries or their representatives.

A provision was made that all questions to be decided upon should be subject to two readings. The program regarding resolutions which was agreed upon was, in brief, that a committee should be formed for drafting the resolutions adopted, composed of five members not forming part of the plenipotentiary delegates, and composed of one representative of the United States of America, one of the British Empire, one of France, one of Italy, and one of Japan. This committee should concern itself only with questions that have been decided. Its sole duty should be to draw up the text of the decision adopted and to present it for the approval of the conference.

The supreme council, consisting of two ranking delegates from each of the five chief Powers, held its first session on January 20, 1919, when the Russian situation was considered and was further discussed on the following day. At the session of the council of January 22, 1919, the decision was announced by which all Russian factions were invited to a conference at Princes' Island, Sea of Marmora. (The proposed conference was subsequently abandoned, as certain Russian factions refused to negotiate with representatives of the Soviet Government of Lenine and Trotzky.)

At the meeting of the supreme council on January 23, 1919, an order of business was announced for a plenary meeting of the conference on January 25, 1919, when the following questions were considered for this purpose.

First.—International legislation on labor.

Second.—Responsibility and punishments in connection with the war.

Third.—Reparation for war damage.

Four.—International rÉgime of ports, waterways, and railways.

On January 24, 1919, the supreme council met for the first time as the supreme war council. Besides President Wilson and the premiers and foreign ministers of the Allied Powers, there were present also Marshal Foch, Field Marshal Haig, General Pershing, General Diaz, and the generals of the Versailles war council, including Generals Wilson, Bliss, Bolling, and Robilant.

The council conferred with Marshal Foch and other military authorities as to the strength of the forces to be allowed to the various Allied Powers on the western front during the period of the armistice.

The President of the United States and the prime ministers and foreign ministers of the Allied and Associated Governments addressed a communication to the world in which reference was made regarding the use of armed force in many parts of Europe and the East to gain possession of territory "the rightful claim to which the Peace Conference is to be asked to determine." Those employing armed force for such purposes were warned that they were prejudicing their claims by so doing, and that "if they expect justice, they must refrain from force and place their claims in unclouded good faith in the hands of the Conference of Peace."

On the same day the mission of the Allies and Associated Great Powers to Poland was discussed. It was agreed that M. Pichon, the French foreign minister, should prepare the instructions to the mission, and that one press representative for each of the five great Powers should be allowed to accompany the mission. The question of territorial adjustment concerning the German colonies was then discussed by Sir Robert Borden, prime minister of Canada; Mr. Hughes, prime minister of Australia; General Smuts, representing General Botha, the prime minister of South Africa, and Mr. Massey, prime minister of New Zealand.

At the second plenary session of the Peace Conference on January 25, 1919, with M. Clemenceau in the chair, the plan for a League of Nations was unanimously adopted. The resolution on the creation of a committee on the League of Nations was as follows:

It is essential to the maintenance of the world settlement which the associated nations are now met to establish that a League of Nations be created to promote international obligations and to provide safeguards against war.

This league should be created as an integral part of the general treaty of peace, and should be open to every civilized nation which can be relied on to promote its objects.

The members of the league should periodically meet in international conference, and should have a permanent organization and secretaries to carry on the business of the league in the intervals between the conference.

The conference therefore appoints a committee, representative of the Associated Governments, to work out the constitution and the functions of the league, and the draft of resolutions in regard to breaches of the laws of war for presentation to the Peace Congress.

That a commission, composed of two representatives apiece from the five great Powers and five representatives to be elected by the other Power's, be appointed to inquire upon the following:

First.—The responsibility of the authors of the war.

Second.—The facts as to the breaches of the laws and customs of war committed by the forces of the German Empire and their allies on land, on sea, and in the air during the present war.

Third.—The degree of responsibility for these offenses attaching to particular members of the enemy's forces, including members of the General Staffs and other individuals however highly placed.

Fourth.—The constitution and procedure of a tribunal appropriate to the trial of these offenses.

After the reading of the resolutions by M. Clemenceau President Wilson addressed the assembly. He said that they had met together for two purposes: to make the present settlements rendered necessary by the war and to secure the lasting peace of the world not only by the present settlements, but by the arrangements which they should make for its maintenance.

The League of Nations Mr. Wilson believed to be necessary for both of these purposes. Some complicated questions could not be worked out to an ultimate issue at the time, but would need subsequent consideration, they were not susceptible of confident judgments at present. It would be necessary to set up some machinery to render the work of the conference complete.

"We have assembled here for the purpose of doing very much more than making the present settlements that are necessary.... We are not the representative of governments, but representatives of the peoples. It will not suffice to satisfy governmental circles anywhere. It is necessary that we should satisfy the opinion of mankind.

"The burdens of the war have fallen in an unusual degree upon the whole population of the countries involved." Here, Mr. Wilson spoke of the burden thrown upon the older men, women, and children, upon the homes of the civilized world.

These people looked to this assembly to make a peace which would make them secure. "It is a solemn obligation on our part, therefore, to make permanent arrangements that justice shall be rendered and peace maintained.... Central settlements may be temporary, but the actions of the nations in the interest of peace and justice must be permanent. We can set up permanent processes. We may not be able to set up a permanent decision."

In a sense, said President Wilson, the United States was less interested in this subject than the other nations here assembled. Her great territory and extensive sea borders made her less likely to suffer from enemy attacks than other nations. The deep ardor of the United States for the society of nations did not spring from apprehension, but out of the ideals begotten of the war.

"In coming into this war the United States never for a moment thought that she was intervening in the politics of Europe, or the politics of Asia, or the politics of any part of the world. Her thought was that all the world had now become conscious that there was a single cause of justice and liberty for men of every kind and place.

"Therefore the United States would feel that its part in this war should be played in vain if there ensued upon it abortive European settlements. It would feel that it could not take part in guaranteeing those European settlements unless that guaranty involved the continuous superintendence of the peace of the world by the associated nations of the world."

To make the League of Nations a vital thing, said Mr. Wilson, it must continue to function, there must be no intermission of its watchfulness and of its labor; it should be the eye of the nations to keep watch upon the common interest.

The select classes of mankind, said President Wilson, were no longer governors of mankind. The fortunes of mankind were now in the hands of the plain people of the whole world. "Satisfy them and you have justified their confidence not only, but have established peace. Fail to satisfy them and no arrangement that you can make will either set up or steady the peace of the world." In the United States the great project of a League of Nations was regarded as the keynote of the whole. "If we returned to the United States without having made every effort in our power to realize this program, we should return to meet the merited scorn of our fellow citizens.... We have no choice but to observe their mandate. But it is with the greatest pleasure and enthusiasm that we accept that mandate. And because this is the keynote of the whole fabric, we have pledged our every purpose to it, as we have to every item of the fabric. We would not dare abate a single item of the program which constitutes our instructions; we would not dare to compromise upon any matter as the champions of this thing—the peace of the world, this attitude of justice, this principle, that we are the masters of no peoples, but are here to see that every people in the world shall choose its own masters and govern its own destinies, not as we wish, but as they wish.

"We are here to see, in short, that the very foundations of this war are swept away. Those foundations were the private choice of a small coterie of civil rulers, of military staffs. Those foundations were the aggression of great Powers upon the small. Those foundations were the holding together of empires of unwilling subjects by the duress of arms. Those foundations were the power of small bodies of men to wield their will and use mankind as pawns in the game. And nothing less than the emancipation of the world from these things will accomplish peace...."

Mr. Lloyd-George, the British premier, and Signor Orlando, premier of Italy, followed President Wilson, and made eloquent speeches in support of the resolution. After Leon Bourgeois, a French delegate, and representatives of China, Poland, and Belgium had expressed their adherence to the plan for a League of Nations the resolution was unanimously adopted.

It was decided at the conference to appoint a commission in regard to reparation for war damage to consist of representatives from Belgium, Greece, Poland, Rumania, and Serbia who would report on the amount of reparation which the enemy countries ought to pay, on what they are capable of paying, and on the method, form, and time within which payment should be made.

A resolution in regard to international legislation on industrial and labor questions was also passed. This provided for the appointment of two representatives apiece from the five great Powers and five representatives to be elected by the other Powers represented at the Peace Conference to inquire into the conditions of employment from the international aspect and to recommend the form of a permanent agency, to continue such inquiry in cooperation with and under the direction of the League of Nations. The conference also adopted a resolution to appoint a commission to inquire and report upon the international rÉgime of ports, waterways, and railways.

The supreme council at its session on January 27, 1919, prepared a program of work and the constitution of new committees for economic and financial questions and those relating to private and maritime laws. The question of the former German colonies was discussed on the following day. At the two sessions of the supreme council on January 29, 1919, reports were heard from delegates on the Polish situation and Polish claims, and the Czecho-Slovak delegates gave their views.

The question of Kiauchau and the Pacific Islands created sharp differences between the delegates of China and Japan. China finally agreed that Kiauchau should be left to the disposal of Japan, to be restored to China on condition that it was opened as a commercial port.

At the meeting of the supreme council on January 30, 1919, the question of the German colonies in the Pacific and in Africa and the occupied territory in Turkey was discussed. Provisional arrangements were made to incorporate in the constitution of the League of Nation a plan for administering the German colonies by which the league should assign them to various powers for administration. This was opposed by the representative of Australia, who insisted on the annexation of New Guinea to Australia.

President Wilson was firmly opposed to a division of Germany's colonial possessions among the Powers which then held them. He believed that to divide the colonies among the Entente nations would be in direct contravention of the "Fourteen Points" which had been accepted as a basis of peace, and would violate the principles of the League of Nations.

The famous "Fourteen Points," it will be remembered, were formulated by President Wilson, and in January, 1918, were offered to the belligerent nations as the foundation for peace negotiations:

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind, but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as seas may be closed in whole, or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

III. The removal as far as possible of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace and associated for its maintenance.

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

V. A free, open-minded, and also impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon the strict observance of principles that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest cooperation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the desired determination of her own political development and national policy, and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under the institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to some will be the acid test of their good will, of the comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they themselves have set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrongs done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace and Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted, in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

IX. A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity for autonomous development.

XI. Russia, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated; occupied territories restored, Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, and the relations of the several Balkan states to one another determined by friendly counsel along historically established lines of allegiance and nationality; and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.

XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nations which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity for autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenants.

XIV. A genuine association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of affording mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity of great and small states alike.

At the session of the supreme council on February 1, 1919, a decision was reached concerning the German colonies and the conditions were later confirmed by the covenant of the League of Nations.

President Wilson presided at the opening meeting of the League of Nations Commission on February 3, 1919, held at the residence of Colonel Edward House in Paris. The United States was represented by Mr. Wilson, Colonel House, and Mr. Miller, technical expert. Lord Robert Cecil and General Christian Smuts represented Great Britain; for France, Leon Bourgeois and Ferdinand Larnaude; for Italy Premier Orlando, and for Japan Baron Chinda; also delegates from Belgium, Serbia, Brazil, Portugal, and China.

The discussion in which Mr. Wilson took a leading part was not general but specific, as the printed text of the agreed plan for the formation of the League of Nations was before the meeting.

On the same date important committees on reparation, ports, waterways and railways held their first formal meetings. The French and British presented a program recognizing the right of nations to control international waterways and international railways, which was accepted by the commission.

The commission of the Allied Nations held daily sessions beginning February 4, 1919, and made continued progress. The delegates were unanimous in believing that a League of Nations was desirable, but some doubted its immediate efficiency and favored maintaining the old order of balance of power until the new plan had demonstrated its capacity and workability, to meet the needs of nations loving peace. Much time was spent in winning over these dissenters, and it was only accomplished after long and patient endeavors.

The final session of the League of Nations Commission was held on February 13, 1919, when a French delegate offered a clause for an interallied military force to compel peace, and the Japanese presented an amendment providing that racial discrimination should not be tolerated. Both proposals were defeated.

At this meeting the constitution of the League of Nations as finally drafted was unanimously adopted by the committee and President Wilson was designated to present the completed plan to the plenary council at their next session.