Bisbee daily review., 1920-02-14
Is Glad to Resign.

Is Glad to Resign.
 Washington, Feb. 12, 1920
 My Dear Mir. President: I visa t thank you sincerelf for your Candi, letter of the 11th in which you stat that my resignation would be aC ceptable to you. since it relieves m of the responsibility for aclion whicl I have been contemplating and whicl I can now take without hesitation a 1t meets your wishes.
 "l have the honor, therefore to
 tender you my resignation as sec
 retary of state, the same to take
 effect at your convenience.
 ''In thus severing our official assu citation feel. MT President, that should make the following statemen which had prepared recently an, which will show you that l have no been mmindful that the continuance of our present relations was impos sible and that I realized that It wa clearly my duty to bring them to al end at the earliest moment compati hle with the public interest.
 "EVer since January, 1919.
 have been conscious of the fact
 that You no longer were disposed
 to welcome my advice in matters
 pertaining to the negotiations in
 Paris, to our foreign esrVice, or
 to intern ational affairs in eener-
 al. Holding these views l would,
 if 1 had consulted my personal in-
 clination alone, have resigned as
 secretary of state and as a com
 Faiceinnar 4n F,nnntiafA
 felt however. that such step
 might have been misinterpreted
 both at home and abroad, and that it was my duty to cause you
 no embarrassment in carrying forward the great task in which you were then engaged. Possi-
 bly, erred in this, but l did it
 with the best motives.
 When I returned to Washing on in the latter part of July, 1919, my nersonal wish to resign had not changed but again I felt that loyalty to you and my duty to the admins tration compelled me to defer action as to my resignation might have been misconstrued into hostility to the ratification of the treaty of peace or at least into disapproval of yom views as to the form of ratification. I therefore remained silent, avoiding any comment on the frequent reports that we were not in full agreement Subsequently, your serious illness during which I have never seen you, imposed upon me the duty-at least I construed it to be my duty-to re main in charge of the department of state until your health permitted you to assume again full direction of for eign affairs.
 Believing that that time had ar rived, I had prepared my resignation when my only doubt as to the pro- priety of placing it in your hands was removed by your letter indicat- ing that it would be entirely accepta- bie to you.
 'I think, MT. President. in accord ance with the frankness which has marked this correspondence and for which l am grateful to you, that cannot permit to pass unchallenged the imputation that in calling into in formal conference the heads of the executive departments, I sought to usurp your presidential authority had no such intention, no such thought. I believed then, and I be- lieve now that the conferences, which were held were for the best interests of your administration and of the re- public and that belief was shared by others whom 1 consulted. I further believe that the conferences were proper and necessary in the CirCum- stances and that I would have been derelict in my duty if I had failed to act as I did.
 "l also feel, MT. President, that candor compels me to say that l cannot agree with your state- ment, that l have tried to fore stall your judgment in certain cases by formulating action and merely asking Your approval when it was impossible for you to form an independent judgment because you had not had an op- portunity to examine the circum- stances with any degree of inde- pendence. have, it is true, when thought a case demanded imme- diate action, advised you what, in my opinion, that action should be, stating at the same time the req sons on which my opinion was based This | conceived to be a function of the secretary of state and l have followed the practice for the past four Years and half. l confess that l have been sur prised and disappointed at the frequent disapproVal of my sug- gestions, but l have never failed to follow your decisions, however difficult if made the conduct of our foerign affairs.
 "I need hardly add that l leave the office of secretary of state with only good will toward yourself. Mir. Pres. ident. and with a sense of profound relief. Sse eKf Forgetting our differences and re only your many kind nesses in the past I have the honor to be, MT. President,
 Sincerely yours,
 (Signed) ROBERT LANSING
 President Accepts.
 The President, The White House "The White House, Washington, Is, Feb. 1920.
 My Dear Secretary: Allow me to acknowledge with appreciation your