The New York herald., 1922-12-03

Wv heart hope that am wrong
said President Wilson tc
George Creel on board the George Wash
ington en- route to the Peace Conference
"is a tragedy Of disappointment" Ray
Stannard Bakers three volume nara tive
is the story of that tragedy.
For variety Of reasons (incIudine the
passions raised by the world war, the over
whelming desire of the peoples of the
world for peace and a return to normal
living, the novelty of the President of the
United States going to a foreign country
as the head of a treaty making commits
sion and the enormous amount Of space
devoted to the doinss of the Peace Con-
ference by the American newspapers) the
people Of the United States followed the
reports Of the work OF the conference with
an intensity of interest given to the few
things happening in the world So that in
its major outlines and in many of its de-
tails Mr.. Bakers narrative is a thoroughly
familiar story. But the work has great
value in that il tells this tremendous tale
eonsecutively and assemblies the facts OF
the Peace Conference within the pages OF
two volumes the third one being devoted
to documents and reports relating TO the
conference and the work of the various
councils and committees that are not read
lily available for students of history.
AS is now weIl known Mr.. Baker drew
much of his material for this work from
the papers kept by President Wilson in
steel document box in Paris But in
addition to Mr.. Wilson's personal memo
randa he had Sir Maurice Hankey's MN
utes of the Council of Four-"probably
not far short Of three-quarters of a million
words"-the minutes of the Council of
Ten, reports and memoranda of the MEM
bers of the American delegation made for
the President. and correspondence received
by the President from all over the world-a
collection of documents of a quality and
number to make the mouth of the profes.
sionaI writer OF history water
II is Mr. Bakers gift to present his
material IN a lucid and interesting manner.
markedly devoted TO the wilsonian viev
of the whole situation and its results.
touched here and again with pregnant
comments on the events and lightened with
personal sketches of some of the leading
hgures-occasionalIy harsh but more often
distinctly humorous Mr. Baker evidently
had rod in pickle for former Secretary of
State Lansing and he takes it cut on oc-
easiOn and applies il with touch calcu-
lated to make its victim vince He has
an intense admiration for Gen. Bliss
shall like his memoirs best OF all. think,
when he comes TO publish them." ne writes
and is no admirer Of either Lloyd George
of Georges Clemenceau.
The Senator's of Washington who are
reported to object to CIemenceau's present
visit to the United States and to his
speeches. will probably find a profound
satisfaction in Mr.. Bakers picture of
Clemenceau as the arch enemy of the
United States. as represented by Mr. Will
son and his League OF Nations and there
fore Of the worlds peace. One OF the
most amusing passages in the story is
that OF Lloyd George upsetting the routine
Of the French Foreign Office by insisting
on having his tea "and getting it, and of
his coming out of conference room in
the Quai d'Orsay and exclaiming: IT don't
believe the air in that room has been
changed since the days OF Louis Philippe "
To Mr.. Baker the problem. the great diff
iculty OF the Peace Conference. was that
II meant a struggle between the old order