Imperial Valley press., 1921-03-25
Former Secretary of State
Pictures Ex-President as
Dictator to Associates and
Tool Of Big Powers.
(By Associated Press

BOSTON, March 25.-Robert Lam
sing, former secretary of state and
member of the American Peace COM
mission, will reveal in his forthcom-
ing book on "The Peace Negotiations y
published by Houghton, Mifflin COM
pany, today, how close he came to
resigning from the commission be-
cause of differences with President
Wilson over the Shantung decision and
his belief that many Of the terms of
peace imposed on Germany were harsh
humiliating and seemingly impossible
of performance.
The publishers of this book, which
has been eagerly awaited by historians
and the public, have carefully guarded
the text of the manuscript but thew
have permitted the general trend of
Mr. Lansing's argument to become
known
President Wilson, according to Mr..
Lansing's belief, at one time during
the peace conference purposed to ne
gotiate preliminary treaty which
"Ctht Sle'II CliC ISdS Oh ndClOnS
functioning without laying the docu-
ment before the United States senate
and evidently was much perturbed
when his secretary of state told him
that the only way to change the status
from war to peace was by ratified
treaty or a joint resolution of cor
gress.
A profound conviction that lmNe-
date peace was the primary need
of the world, Mr.. Lansing implies, was
all that kept him from resigning from
the peace commission because of fun.
damental disagreements with the pres
ident on principles. The former sec
retary of state dlscloses that in 1916.
shortly before meeting in Washing
ton of the league to enforce peace at
which the president was to speak, Mr..
Lansing wrote to Mr. Wilson objecting
to the use of force to settle interna-
tional disputes. In this letter he point
ed to the menace to the Monroe Dec
, trine contained in such plan.
Alarmed at the mpl;cations of
war and foreign entanglements in the
guarantee Of territorial integrity and
political independence of members of
the league, guarantee that finally
was embodied in Article X of the
Covenant, Mr. Lansing says that at
. Paris he tried to have substituted a
negative pledge that the members
would not infringe upon each Other
territorial Integrity or political inde-
pendence. He became convinced that
Colonel Edward M. House, then presi-
alo
completely converted with regard to
this question.
1t is in relation to Shantung Mr.
Lansing discloses the sharpest differ
ances between himself and President
Wilson. Mr.. Lansing gives as his
opinion that blackmail and bluff by
Japan impelled the president to agree
to surrender to that country such
rights in Shantung as before the war
were held by Germany and automatic
ally annulled when China declared
hostlities. In his opinion only secret
diplomacy made it possible for Japan
, to threaten to leave the peace confer
ence unless its demands were granted
u threat Mr.. Lansing believed would
not have been executed because of the
dppISCldlloil ny Japan lIdI tle DeHelltS
of new and powerful world position
could be retained only by membership
in the league of nations.
That other members of the Ameri-
can commission shared his view that
the Shantung decision as rendered by
the council of four was flagrant
wrong and were prevented from re-
signing only by the critical conditions
in the world situation is clearly i'm
piled by Mr.. Lansing. He describes
the indignation felt by himself and by
Henry White and General Tasker II
Bliss and in this connection publishes
the letter written by General Bliss to
the president, in, which Mr.. Lansing
and Mr.. White concurred, stating that
! to support the Japanese claim would
be to abandon Chinese democracy to
domination of Japan's Prussianised
militarism.
1t was impossible, in Mr.. Lansing's
opinion, to make the league of ma
tions covenant the greatest interna-
tional compact ever written, as was