Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-08-21
My Dear Senator Fall:

certain written questions which l
promised you 1 would answer. / am
fastening to fulfill that promise.
I feel constrained to say in reply
to your first question not only that
in my judgment / have not the
power by proclamation to declare
that peace exists. but that I could
in no circumstances consent to take
such course prior to the ratif1ca-
ton of a formal treaty of peace. I
feel it due to perfect frankness to
say that 1T would, in my opinion,
put stain upon our national
honor which we never could efface.
II. after sending our men to the
battlefield to fight the common
cause, we should abandon our asso-
ciates in the war in the settlement
of the terms Of peace and dissoci-
ate ourselves from all RESPONSE
bility with regard to those terms
l respectfully suggest that. hav-
ing said this, 1 have in effect an
swered also your second. third and
fourth questions, SO far as l myself
am concerned.
Permit me to answer your fifth
question by saying that the provi-
sions of the treaty to which you
refer operate merely to establish
peace between the powers ratify-
ing. and that it is questionable
whether it can be said that the
league Of nations is in any true
sense created by the association Of
only three of the allied and asso-
c1ated governments.
In reply to your sixth QUESTION. I
can only express the confident
opinion that the immediate abortion
OF the treaty, along with the ar
tfcles of the covenant of the league
as written. would certainly within
the near future reduce the cost Of
living In this country az elsewhere.
by restoring production and COM
merce to their normal strength and
freedom
For your convenience. will
number the remaining paragraphs
OF this letter as the questions to
which they are intended to reply
are numbered.
Has No Official Information.
SevenEI have had no official in
formation as to whether Norway.
Sweden, Denmark. Holland or Switz-
erland will Join the league. " =.
Eight answered your eighth
question in reply to a question asked
me at our conference the other day.
Nine-In February. 1917, Spain was
requested to take charge Of American
tltereHts IN Germany through hSr
ives. and no other ar1ngenaent- has
since been made. :
Ten-The committee to prepare
plans for the organisation OF the
league for the establishment OF the
seat OF, the league and for the pro-
ceedings Of the first meeting Of the
assembly has been appointed but has
not reported.
Eleven-Article 11s OF the peace
treaty. part Nv. under which Ger
many renounces all her rights to ter
ritory formerly belonging to herself
or to her allies, was understood, so
FAR as special provision was not made
in the treaty itself for it's disposition.
as constituting the principal allied
and associated powers the authority
by which such disposition should ul-
timately be determined. 1t conveys
no title to those powers. but merely
intrusts the disposition of the terri
tory in question to their decision.
Vests a Trusteeship.
Twelve. Germany's remuneration
In favor of the principal allied and
associated powers or her rights
and titles to her overseas posses
sions is meant similarly to operate
as vesting in those powers a trus-
teeshfp with respect Of their final
disposition and government.
Thirteen. There has been q pro-
visional agreement as to the dis
position of these overseas possess
sions. whose confirmation and ex-
ecution is dependent upon the ap-
prevail of the league Of nations, and
the United States is a party to that
provisional agreement.
Fourteen. The only agreement
between France and Great Britain
with regard to African territory,
of which ! am cognizant. concerns
the redisposit1on of rights already
possessed by those countries on
that continent. The provisional
agreement referred to in the pre-
ceding paragraph covers all the
German overseas possessions. in
Africa as well as elsewhere.
Fifteen. No mention was made
in connection with the settlement Of
the Saar basin Of the service Of
an American member of the COM
mission of five to be set up there.
Sixteen. 1t was deemed wise that
the United States should be repre-
scented by one member Of the COM
mission for settling the new from
tier lines of Belgium and Germany,
because Of the universal opinion
that Americas representative
would add to the commission a
useful element of entirely disin-
terested judgment.
Seventeen. The choice of the
commission for the Saar basin was
left to the council of the league Of
nations, because the Saar basin is
for fifteen years to be directly I'M
der the care and direction of the
league of nations. =
Eighteen. Article SO does in eff
feet provide that five of the men,
bers of the commission of seven to
fix the boundaries between Poland
and Czecho- Slovakia should be
nominated by certain countries, be-
cause there are Ave principal allied
and associated powers. and the
nomination of hve representatives
by those powers necessarily means
the nomination Of one representa-
tive by each Of those powers.
Nineteen. No such commission
has yet been appointed.
Twenty. 1t was deemed wise
that the United States should have
a representative on the commission
set up to exercise authority over
the plebiscite of Upper Silesia, for
the same reason that l have given
with regard to the commission for
setting the frontier line Of Bel
GUM and Germany.
Sincerely yours,
WOODROW WILSON.