Evening star., 1919-08-19
&c ontinued from First Page.)

th&t. time, and the time of\ the forma-
tidn. Of the commission on the league
of nations. I had the advantaEe OF
Africa. who seemed to me to have
done some very clear thinking. par
ticdlzrfy with regard to what was to
membered empires After 7 got to
Paris. therefore, I, rewrote the docu--
ment to which 1 >have alluded. and
you may have noticed that 1T consists
Elementary agreements. I was in
the supplementary agreements that
embodied the additional ideas that
had come to! me not only from Gen.
cqSsions. That is the full story Of
how the plan which 1 sent to fhe COM
mittee was built up.
Smuts Plan Used.
Senator LodsA: Then. of course. it is
obvious that the Gen. SHUTS plan had
been used. That appears on the face
of the document
The President. Yes.
Senator Lodge: Then there was q
previous draft in addition to the one
you have sent to u.s. You spoke OF
redraft.- That was not submitted to
The PRESIDENT: No, that was pri-
vately, my own.
Quoted an Early Version.
senator Lodge: Was it before our
The President: No. it was not before
Senator Lodge: The one that was
sent to us was a redraft of that?
The President; Yes. / was reading
some of the discussion before the
committee; and - some sn one; .,h.r l think anr
rectly quoted an early version OF ar
ticfe X
Senator Borah: That was Senator
Johnson.
Senator johnson of California: I
took it from the Independent.
The President: 1 do not know how
that was obtained. but that was part
of the draft which preceded the draft
senator Johnson Of California: 1t
was first published by Mr.. Hamilton
Holt In the Independent: 1t was again
subsequently, in the New Republic
read it when examining, think. the
Secretary of State
The President: I read 1T with the
greatest interest, because had for
gotten it. to tell the truth. but rec
Oenized it as soon as / read 1t.
Senator. johnson of California: 1t
was the original plan?
The President: 1t was the original
form of article y. yes.
Senat0r LOQge- L IDS dOOuC u aSk
about article X, as the essence of it
appears in the article of the draft
which you sent-whether that was in
the British plan, the Srnuts plan, or
the other plans
No Draft Of Plans.
The Chairman: OF course, If there
are no drafts of these other. plans. we
cannot get them
The President. am very sorry.
senator 1 thought I had them. but I
have not. -s=-.
The Chairman: Mr.. Lansing. the
Secretary.rof of State, testified before us
set of resolutions covering the points
in. the league which were submitted
to,s the American commission. You
saw that draft?
The President: Yes.
The Chairman No specific action
was taken upon them7
The President: Not in formal
The Chairman: Mr. President, Il
have no prepared set Of questions. but
there are one or two that I want 70
ask. and wiH 60 to an entirely dif-
ferent subject In my next question. I
want to ask, purely for Information.
IL Il intended that the United States
shall receive any part Of the repara-
tfon fund which is in the hands Of tho
repAration commission?
The President: 4 left that question
oren, senator. because did not feel
that had any hnal right to decide 1t.
Upon the basis that was set up in the
the United States would receive would
be very small at best. and my own
Judgment was frequently expressed,
NOT as decision, but as q Judgment,
int we should claim. nothing under
tn6ee general clauses- ] did that be-
cAhse I coveted the moral advantage
thkt that would Give us In the coun-
ssl6 of the world.
'eenator Mcc6mber: Did that mean
We would claim nothing for the sink.
Ing of the Lusitania?
The President: Oh. no. That did not
cQyer questions of that sort at all.
The Chairman: / understood that
pfe-war claims Were not covered by
that reparation clause.
The President: That ii correct.
The Chairman: I asked that question
because I desired to know whether,
under the reparatfon commission,
there was anything expected to come
to us.
The President: AS I say. that re-
mains to be decided.
TIE Chairman: By the commission?
The President: By the commission.
Disposal Of South Sea Isles.
The Chairman: Going now onto an
other question. As I Understand the.
treaty. the overseas possessions Of Ger
many are all made over to the FIVE
principal allied and associated powers,
who. apparently, as far as the treaty
goes. have power to make disposition
OF them. suppose by way of man
date or otherwise. Among those over
seas possessions are the Ladrone Is
lands. except Guam. the Caroline and
i think, the Marshall Islands. Has
there been any recommendation made
by our naval authorities in regard to
the importance of our having one
Island there. not for territorial pur-
poses. but for naval purposes?
The President: There was a paper
% that subject, Senator. which has
been published I only partially re-
member It, 1t was paper laying out
policy in, the Pacific and the necessity
Of having some base for communica-
tton upon those Islands was MENTION
ed, Just In what form I do not re-
member. But let me say this. there is
little island which must admit I
had not heard of before.
Yap?
The President: Yap. 1t il one of the
bases and centers Of cable and radio
made the point that the disposition.
or rather the control. Of that island
should be reserved for the general
conference, which il to be held. in
of these cables. That subject is men
TONED and disposed Of in this treaty
apd that general cable conference b
TO be held.
Cable Base Threatened.
The Chairman: I had understood or
had heard the report that our gem