The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-09-13
DEFEAT
 OF COVENANT F II IS UNDERSTOOD, IS WITNESS STATEMENT
Secretary of State Quoted as Saying He Opposed Shan tung Award, League Bad and World Ar
 ranged for Big
 Nations
By Associated Press

By Associated Press
 Washington, September 12. The bald assertion that Secre- tary Lansing opposed ratifica- tion of the peace treaty and league of nations covenant, al- though he was a member su American peace commission that drafted it, was flung today before the Senate foreign re. lations committee by William c. Bullitt of Philadelphia, former ly employed by the mission at Paris in a confidential capacity.
 The testimony. purporting to give
 MT. Lansing's private opinion cx-
 pressed in conversation with the
 witness the day the latter resigned
 from the mission because he was
 not in sympathy with the treaty
 or the league. popped out suddenly
 and sensati"naiiy. Buiiitt hnd just
 expressed reluctance at the idea
 
 conversation with the peace com
 missioners. and members of the
 committee quite agreed with this
 view.
 Near the close of a three hour hear ing however Chairman Lodge asked how the treaty and its covenants was regarded at Paris. Secretary Lansing Henry White and General Bliss all members of the American commission expressed vigorous opinious" Buliitt said. adding, in reply to an inquiry by the chairman that these opinions were not enthusiastic.
 QUOTES SECRETARY LANSING
 Then from n memorandum the
 conversation. dictated he said,
 while it was fresh in his mind. BuI-
 iitt quoted the Secretsry on mnmy
 points saying that Mir. Lansing op-
 posed the award of Shantung to
 Japan, that he considered the
 league of nations would pay little
 attention to the small nations, and
 that the world hnd been arranged
 according to the desires of the
 big nations at the peace conference.
 The most sensational statement
 attributed by the witness to the se-
 cretary of state was that "lf the
 Senate and the American people
 knew what the treaty meant 1t
 would he def-atcd.-
 Senator Knox really would under stand the treaty. Mr. Lansing said, ac- cording to the witness. and MT. Lodge would. but Mir Lodges position would become purely political
 There was no democratic senator in attendance when this testimony was given, nor at other times during the hearing, and nobody took up the cudgels for the American commissioner When news of Bullitt's testimony cnr al ff.o tensively discussed, and senators said they were anxious to hear from Mir Lansing. When some of them endea- vored to reach him at the state depart ment they found he was out of town, and an Associated Press dispatch later from Watertown, ic l.. said he de- clined to make any statement, and had gone fishing
 FORMERLY CORRESPONDENT
 Bullitt, formerly II newspaper cor respondent, went to Paris with Presi- dent Wilson's party and was at tached to the mission.
 He was summoned to testify before the treaty was reported out by committee, but was in the Maine woods on camp ing trip and the notice did not reach him until a few days ago. This was explained by Chairman Lodge to show why the hearing apparently had been reopened. A wealth Of information regarded as more or less cOnndentl3l was gwen Dy tIse witness during his three hour state ment. In February last he was sent by Secretary Lansing to Petrograd to bring back from the soviet leaders statement showing the exact terms on which they would agree to peace. This report. which told among other things of good order established by the bolshe- wiki, Lenines desire for peace, his readi ness to compromise on many points in order to obtain it. and his promise that all foreign debts of the soviet govern ment would be paid, never was made public, Bulltt said, because the Presi- dent would not agree. Lloyd George wanted 1t printed. he said, yet later the Premier denied all knowledge of it when questioned :n Parliament
 WORKED UNDER HOUSE Bullitt described himself as a clearing house of information for the delegation and worked generally under Colonel E. NJ House.
 ' He showed the committee the Presi-
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