Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-01-20
French Ambassador Gives an
Address on Question at
Short Session.
NEUTRALS DESIRE PART
IN ORGANIZING LEAGUE
Feel Belligerents Alone Should Not
Make Covenants Then Ask
Them to Subscribe.

A0SIA W CuUSCIiUe.
BY the Associated Press.
PARIS, January 20.-The situation in
Russia was taken up by the supreme
council of the peace conference at its
session today. Joseph Noulens, the
French ambassador to Russia, was pres
ent at the meeting and addressed it on
the Russian question.
This announcement was made in the
official statement given out regarding
the proceedings of the plenipoten-
taries.
The next meeting of the council will
be held tomorrow at 1880 o'clock
Text of Official Statement.
The text of the official communique
is as follows:
THE President of the United States
of America and the prime ministers
and foreign ministers of the allied
governments, assisted by Baron
Maxine and the japanese ambassador
in Paris. met at the Quai d'Orsay this
morning between 1890 and II o'clock.
M. Noulens, the French ambassador
to Russia, who returned a few days
ago from Archangel. addressed the
meeting and gave particulars of the
situation in Russia.
THE next meeting will take place
on Tuesday at 1880 o'clock in the
morning to hear the remarks of NJ.
Scavenius. the Danish minister in
Petroerad. who left the Russian
capital very recently"
Only Ten Attend Council.
The council as it met today comprised
| ten members-two from each of the
and Secretary of State Lansing repre-
senting the United States.
| The three additional members from
each power did not attend, as full
meetings of the membership of
| twenty-five are assembled only when
| subjects of especial Importance are
under consideration by the council.
Neutrals Want Recognition.
The decision that the league of ma
tions will be outlined and organized
by the belligerents alone is under
stood to be the cause of some dissat-
isfaction among the neutrals. who al
ready are informally discussing the
matter among themselves. Whether
any formal action will be taken by
the neutrals to voice their protest is
not yet known. but among some of
them there is said to be a feeling
that it would be neither fair nor dig
nified that they be afterward asked
to subscribe Il covenant in whose
making they had no part.
The neutralS, it is understood. do
not claim participation in the discus
sion of peace terms because they took
no part in the war. but they contend
that league of nations is an inter-
national institution, Independent OF
the war, and that, therefore, no dis
tinction should be made between bell
ligerents and acknowledgements. 1t is
also pointed out that among the neu-
trails there were several countries
whose anti-German feelings were as
strong as among the allies, but that
owing to geographical positions and
other factors they were forced to re-
main neutral.
Compare Plans for League.
At the sittings today marked prog
ress was being made in the business
of comparing various plans for the
formation of league of nations and
harmoniZing them into a unity OF
ideas which can be taken up as
concrete proposition. Much headway
in this direction was made last night
at the conference at the Murat resi-
dence. which was attended v Mr. WIZ
SON Lord Robert Cecil. the British
representative charged with working
out of plan for league of nations;
Leon Bourgeoise, the French pro-
ponent of a plan for such an organi-
Zation. and Gen. Jan Christian Smuts.
who has formulated plan for
league.
Preliminary conversations over the
structure of the league of nations
are, strictly peaking, still in the
stage of being discussed in meetings
of the supreme council and are not
technically before the peace congress
as a whole, but the fact that the con-
gress has advanced this question to
the foremost place in its program Is
taken to indicate that such progress
is being made in the supreme council
as to warrant the expectation that
definite and somewhat detailed, pro-
gram viii soon be evolved. This pro-
gram, il is belived, will present the
common thought of the leaders of the
United States, Great Britain and
France and therefore may furnish a
starting point from which all the
peace delegates may participate in
the work. President Wilson is per-
feature of the work of the peace con-
gress to the virtual exclusion of an
others. ---
Expect President to Get Results.
With a definite plan formed for,
erecting a structure upon which all
nations can agree, there are about
twenty five working days remaining
of the time that President Wilson has
allotted to himself for work in France
before leaving for home. The ques-
tion being asked is whether he can in
this comparatively short time bring
the nations together in an agreement
for society of nations Many of
the Presidents closest advisers are
Aasonably convinced he can do
l'hey base their opinion on what APP
pears to be spontaneous develop-
ments, on expressions indicating ad
herence to the league plan by Great
Britain, France and Italy and on
the assumption that. being virtually
agreed upon in principle. and. in--
deed. as to some details. the remain
der of the work. while presenting
some perplexities, does not offer
hopeless obstacles If approached in a
spirit of accommodation, and even
sacrifice. which virtually all leaders
have declared in their public ad-
dresses as being quite necessary to
a satisfactory result.
With discussions now past the point
where it seems to be agreed there
.t,on t,a mn nNr a