Chapter III: Part 3

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The Soviet Government recognizes very clearly the undesirability of granting concessions to foreigners and is ready to do so only because of necessity. The members of the Government realize that the lifting of the blockade will be illusory unless the Soviet Government is able to establish credits in foreign countries, particularly the United States and England, so that goods may be bought in those countries. For Russia to-day is in a position to export only a little gold, a little platinum, a little hemp, flax, and wood. These exports will be utterly inadequate to pay for the vast quantity of imports which Russia needs. Russia must, therefore, obtain credit at any price. The members of the Soviet Government realize fully that as a preliminary step to the obtaining of credit the payment of foreign debts must be resumed and, therefore, are ready to pay such debts. But even though these debts are paid the members of the Soviet Government believe that they will not be able to borrow money in foreign countries on any mere promise to pay. They believe, therefore, that they will have to grant concessions in Russia to foreigners in order to obtain immediate credit. They desire to avoid this expedient if in any way it shall be possible, but if absolutely necessary they are ready to adopt it in order to begin the restoration of the normal life of the country.

Senator KNOX. To whom did you hand that report?

Mr. BULLITT. I handed copies of this personally to Secretary Lansing, Col. House, Gen. Bliss and Mr. Henry White, and I handed a second copy, for the President, to Mr. Lansing. Secretary Lansing wrote on it, "Urgent and immediate"; put it in an envelope, and I took it up to the President's house.

Senator KNOX. At the same time that you handed in this report, did you hand them the proposal of the Soviet Government?

Mr. BULLITT. The proposal of the Soviet Government is appended to this report.

Senator KNOX. It is a part of the report?

Mr. BULLITT. It is a part of the report which I have already read. There comes first an appendix explaining the statements which I have just read, and giving the evidence I have for them.

Senator KNOX. Was there any formal meeting of the peace conference, or of representatives of the great powers, to act upon this suggestion and upon your report?

Mr. BULLITT. It was acted upon in a very lengthy, long-drawn-out manner.

Immediately on my return I was first asked to appear before the American Commission. First, the night I got back I had a couple of hours with Col. House, in which I went over the whole matter. Col. House was entirely and quite decidedly in favor of making peace, if possible, on the basis of this proposal.

The next morning I was called before the other Commissioners, and I talked with Mr. Lansing, Gen. Bliss, and Mr. Henry White all the morning and most of the afternoon. We had a long discussion, at the end of which it was the sense of the commissioners' meeting that it was highly desirable to attempt to bring about peace on that basis.

BREAKFAST WITH LLOYD GEORGE

The next morning I had breakfast with Mr. Lloyd George at his apartment. Gen. Smuts and Sir Maurice Hankey and Mr. Philip Kerr were also present, and we discussed the matter at considerable length, I brought Mr. Lloyd George the official text of the proposal, the same official one, in that same envelop, which I have just shown to you. He had previously read it, it having been telegraphed from Helsingfors. As he had previously read it, he merely glanced over it and said, "That is the same one I have already read," and he handed it to Gen. Smuts, who was across the table, and said, "General, this is of the utmost importance and interest, and you ought to read it right away." Gen. Smuts read it immediately, and said he thought it should not be allowed to lapse; that it was of the utmost importance. Mr. Lloyd George, however, said that he did not know what he could do with British public opinion. He had a copy of the Daily Mail in his hand, and he said, "As long as the British press is doing this kind of thing how can you expect me to be sensible about Russia?" The Daily Mail was roaring and screaming about the whole Russian situation. Then Mr. Lloyd George said, "Of course all the reports we get from people we send in there are in this same general direction, but we have got to send in somebody who is known to the whole world as a complete conservative, in order to have the whole world believe that the report he brings out is not simply the utterance of a radical." He then said, "I wonder if we could get Lansdowne to go?" Then he immediately corrected himself and said, "No; it would probably kill him." Then he said, "I wish I could send Bob Cecil, but we have got to keep him for the league of nations." And he said to Smuts, "It would be splendid if you could go, but, of course, you have got the other job," which was going down to Hungary. Afterwards he said he thought the most desirable man to send was the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Robert Cecil's brother; that he would be respectable enough and well known enough so that when he came back and made the same report it would go down with British public opinion. Mr. Lloyd George then urged me to make public my report. He said it was absolutely necessary to have publicity given to the actual conditions in Russia, which he recognized were as presented.

I saw Mr. Balfour that afternoon with Sir Eric Drummond, who at that time was acting as his secretary. He is now secretary of the league of nations. We discussed the entire matter. Sir William Wiseman told me afterward that Mr. Balfour was thoroughly in favor of the proposition.

Well, to cut the story short, first the President referred the matter to Col. House. He left his decision on the matter with Col. House, as was his usual course of procedure in most such matters. Mr. Lloyd George also agreed in advance to leave the preparation of the proposal to Col. House; that is, he said he would be disposed to go at least as far as we would and would follow the lead of the President and Col. House. Col. House thereupon asked me to prepare a reply to this proposal, which I did.

Col. House in the meantime had seen Mr. Orlando, and Mr. Orlando had expressed himself as entirely in favor of making peace on this basis, at least so Col. House informed me at the time. The French, I believe, had not yet been approached formally on the matter.

Senator KNOX. By the way, right here, you say Mr. Lloyd George advised you to make your report public. Did you make it public?

Mr. BULLITT. No, sir. Mr. Lloyd George desired me to make it public for the enlightenment that he thought it might give to public opinion.

Senator KNOX. But you did not do it?

BULLITT REPORT SUPPRESSED

Mr. BULLITT. I attempted to. I prepared a statement for the press based on my report, giving the facts, which I submitted to the commission to be given out. No member of the commission was ready to take the responsibility for publicity in the matter and it was referred to the President. The President received it and decided that he did not want it given out. He thought he would rather keep it secret, and in spite of the urgings of the other commissioners he continued to adhere to that point of view, and my report has never been made public until this moment.

Col. House asked me to prepare a declaration of policy, a statement based on this proposal of the Soviet Government. It was to be an ironclad declaration which we knew in advance would be accepted by the Soviet Government if we made it, and he thought that the President and Mr. Lloyd George would put it through.

Senator BRANDEGEE. Did you attend that meeting of the commission when that report was considered by the American Commission?

Mr. BULLITT. I first handed each member of the commission my report. I had appeared before them and discussed my mission for an entire day. They sat in the morning and in the afternoon.

Senator BRANDEGEE. I wondered whether you were present when the President thought it would be better not to give it out, not to make it public.

Mr. BULLITT. No, sir; I was not. Then upon order of Col. House, to whom the matter had been referred, I prepared this declaration of policy. I prepared it in conjunction with Mr. Whitney Shepherdson, who was Col. House's assistant secretary, and also versed in international law. I do not know that this is of any importance, aside from the fact that it is almost the only direct proposition to accept their proposal which was prepared. Col. House took this and held it under advisement and discussed it, I believe, with the President and other persons.

The CHAIRMAN. It had better be printed.

The document referred to is as follows:

A PROPOSED DECLARATION OF POLICY TO BE ISSUED IN THE NAME OF THE ASSOCIATED GOVERNMENTS AND AN OFFER OF AN ARMISTICE

The representatives of the States assembled in conference at Paris recently extended an invitation to the organized groups in Russia to lay down their arms and to send delegates to Prince's Island. These delegates were asked to "confer with the representatives of the associated powers in the freest and frankest way, with a view to ascertaining the wishes of all sections of the Russian people and bringing about, if possible, some understanding and agreement by which Russia may work out her own purposes and happy cooperative relations may be established between her people and the other peoples of the world." The truce of arms was not declared, and the meeting did not take place.

The people of Russia are laboring to-day to establish the system of government under which they shall live. Their task is one of unparalleled difficulty, and should not be further complicated by the existence of misapprehensions among the Russian people or throughout the world. Therefore, the representatives of the associated powers, now sitting in the conference of Paris, have determined to state publicly what they had in mind to say through their delegates to Prince's Island concerning the policies which govern their relations with the Russian people.

They wish to make it plain that they do not intend to interfere in any way with the solution of the political, social, or economic problems of Russia. They believe that the peace of the world will largely depend upon a right settlement of these matters; but they equally recognize that any right settlement must proceed from the Russian people themselves, unembarrassed by influence or direction from without. On the other hand, the associated powers desired to have it clearly understood that they can have no dealings with any Russian Government which shall invade the territory of its neighbors or seek to impose its will upon other peoples by force. The full authority and military power of the associated governments will stand in the way of any such attempt.

The task of creating a stable government demands all the great strength of Russia, healed of the famine, misery, and disease which attend and delay the reconstruction. The associated powers have solemnly pledged their resources to relieve the stricken regions of Europe. Their efforts, begun in Belgium and in northern France during the course of the war, now extend to exhausted peoples from Finland to the Dalmatian coast. Ports long idle are busy again. Trainloads of food are moved into the interior and there are distributed with an impartial hand. Industry is awakened, and life is resumed at the point where it was broken off by war. These measures of relief will be continued until peace is signed and until nations are once more able to provide for their needs through the normal channels of commerce.

It is the earnest desire of the associated peoples similarly to assuage the distress of millions of men and women in Russia and to provide them with such physical conditions as will make life possible and desirable. Relief can not be effectively rendered, however, except by the employment of all available transportation facilities and the active cooperation of those exercising authority within the country.

These requisites can not be assured while Russia is still at war.

The allied and associated governments, therefore, propose an agreement between themselves and all governments now exercising political authority within the territory of the former Russian Empire, including Finland, together with Poland, Galicia, Roumania, Armenia, Azerbaidjan, and Afghanistan, that hostilities against one another shall cease on all fronts within these territories on April ---- at noon; that fresh hostilities shall not be begun during the period of this armistice, and that no troops or war material of any kind whatever shall be transferred to or within these territories so long as the armistice shall continue. The duration of the armistice shall be for two weeks, unless extended by mutual consent. The allied and associated Governments propose that such of these Governments as are willing to accept the terms of this armistice shall send not more than three representatives each, together with necessary technical experts, to ---- where they shall meet on April ---- with representatives of the allied and associated Governments in conference to discuss peace, upon the basis of the following principles:

(1) All signatory Governments shall remain, as against each
other, in full control of the territories which they occupy
at the moment when the armistice becomes effective; subject
only to such rectifications as may be agreed upon by the
conference, or until the peoples inhabiting these
territories shall themselves voluntarily determine to change
their Government.

(2) The right of free entry, sojourn, circulation, and full
security shall be accorded by the several signatories to the
citizens of each other; provided, however, that such persons
comply with the laws of the country to which they seek
admittance, and provided also that they do not interfere or
attempt to interfere in any way with the domestic politics
of that country.

(3) The right to send official representatives enjoying full
liberty and immunity shall be accorded by the several
signatories to each other.

(4) A general amnesty shall be granted by the various
signatories to all political or military opponents,
offenders, and prisoners who are so regarded because of
their association or affiliation with another signatory,
provided that they have not otherwise violated the laws of
the land.

(5) Nationals of one signatory residing or detained in the
country of another shall be given all possible facilities
for repatriation.

(6) The allied and associated Governments shall immediately
withdraw their armed forces and further military support
from the territory of the former Russian Empire, including
Finland, and the various Governments within that territory
shall effect a simultaneous reduction of armed forces
according to a scheme of demobilization and control to be
agreed upon by the conference.

(7) Any economic blockade imposed by one signatory as
against another shall be lifted and trade relations shall be
established, subject to a program of equitable distribution
of supplies and utilization of transport facilities to be
agreed upon by the conference.

(8) Provision shall be made by the conference for a mutual
exchange of transit and port privileges among the several
signatories.

(9) The conference shall be competent to discuss and
determine any other matter which bears upon the problem of
establishing peace within the territory of the former
Russian Empire, including Finland, and the reestablishment
of international relations among the signatories.

NOTE.--If it is desirable to include a specific reference to
Russia's financial obligations, the following clause (8 bis)
would be acceptable to the Soviet Government at least: "The
governments which have been set up on the territory of the
former Russian Empire and Finland shall recognize their
responsibility for the financial obligations of the former
Russian Empire to foreign States parties to this agreement
and to the nationals of such States. Detailed arrangements
for discharging these obligations shall be agreed upon by
the conference, regard being had to the present financial
situation of Russia."

Senator BRANDEGEE. Was this brought to the attention of the President?

Mr. BULLITT. The first night after I got in Col. House went to the telephone and called up the President right away and told him that I was in, and that he thought this was a matter of the utmost importance, and that it would seem to be an opportunity to make peace in a section of the world where there was no peace; in fact, where there were 23 wars. The President said he would see me the next evening down at Col. House's office, as I remember it. The next evening, however, the President had a headache and he did not come. The following afternoon Col. House said to me that he had seen the President and the President had said he had a one-track mind and was occupied with Germany at present, and he could not think about Russia, and that he had left the Russian matter all to him, Col. House. Therefore I continued to deal with Col. House directly on it inasmuch as he was the delegate of the President, and Lloyd George, in the matter. I used to see Col. House every day, indeed two or three times a day, on the subject, urging him to obtain action before April 10, which, as you will recall, was the date when this proposal was to expire.

NANSEN PLAN TO FEED RUSSIA

Meanwhile Mr. Hoover and Mr. Auchincloss had the idea of approaching peace with Russia by a feeding proposition, and they had approached Mr. Fridjof Nansen, the Arctic explorer, and got him to write and send the following letter to the President. You doubtless have seen his letter to the President.

PARIS, April 3, 1919.

MY DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: The present food situation in Russia,
where hundreds of thousands of people are dying monthly from
sheer starvation and disease, is one of the problems now
uppermost in all men's minds. As it appears that no solution
of this food and disease question has so far been reached in
any direction, I would like to make a suggestion from a
neutral point of view for the alleviation of this gigantic
misery on purely humanitarian grounds.

It would appear to me possible to organize a purely
humanitarian commission for the provisioning of Russia, the
foodstuffs and medical supplies to be paid for, perhaps, to
some considerable extent by Russia itself, the justice of
distribution to be guaranteed by such a commission, the
membership of the commission to be comprised of Norwegian,
Swedish, and possibly Dutch, Danish, and Swiss
nationalities. It does not appear that the existing
authorities in Russia would refuse the intervention of such
a commission of wholly nonpolitical order, devoted solely to
the humanitarian purpose of saving life. If thus organized
upon the lines of the Belgian Relief Commission, it would
raise no question of political recognition or negotiations
between the Allies with the existing authorities in Russia.

I recognize keenly the large political issues involved, and
I would be glad to know under what conditions you would
approve such an enterprise and whether such commission could
look for actual support in finance, shipping, and food and
medical supplies from the United States Government.

I am addressing a similar note to Messrs. Orlando,
Clemenceau, and Lloyd George. Believe me, my dear Mr.
President,

Yours, most respectfully,

FRIDJOF NANSEN.

His Excellency the PRESIDENT,
II Place des Etats-Unis, Paris.

Senator KNOX, I think that was published in nearly all the papers.

Mr. BULLITT. Yes. In it he proposed that a commission should be formed at once for the feeding of Russia, because of the frightful conditions of starvation and so on. Col. House decided that it would be an easier way to peace if we could get there via the feeding plan, under the guise of a purely humanitarian plan, if we could slide in that way instead of by a direct, outright statement inviting these people to sit down and make peace. Therefore he asked me to prepare a reply to the Nansen letter, which I have here.

PARIS, FRANCE, April 4, 1919. Suggested reply to Dr.
Nansen by the President of the United States and the
premiers of France, Great Britain, and Italy:

DEAR MR. NANSEN: It is the earnest desire of the allied and
associated Governments, and of the peoples for whom they
speak, to assuage the distress of the millions of men,
women, and children who are suffering in Russia. The
associated powers have solemnly pledged their resources to
relieve the stricken regions of Europe. Their efforts, begun
in Belgium and in Northern France during the course of the
war, now extend to exhausted peoples from Finland to the
Dalmatian coast. Ports long idle are busy again. Trainloads
of food are moved into the interior and there are
distributed with an impartial hand. Industry is awakened,
and life is resumed at the point where it was broken off by
war. These measures of relief will be continued until
nations are once more able to provide for their needs
through the normal channels of commerce.

The associated peoples desire and deem it their duty
similarly to assist in relieving the people of Russia from
the misery, famine, and disease which oppress them. In view
of the responsibilities which have already been undertaken
by the associated Governments they welcome the suggestion
that the neutral States should take the initiative in the
matter of Russian relief and, therefore, are prepared to
state in accordance with your request, the conditions under
which they will approve and assist a neutral commission for
the provisioning of Russia.

The allied and associated Governments and all Governments
now exercising political authority within the territory of
the former Russian Empire, including Finland, together with
Poland, Galicia, Roumania, Armenia, Azerbaidjan, and
Afghanistan, shall agree that hostilities against one
another shall cease on all fronts within these territories
on April 20 at noon; that fresh hostilities shall not be
begun during the period of this armistice, and that no
troops or war material of any kind whatever shall be
transferred to or within these territories so long as the
armistice shall continue. The duration of the armistice
shall be for two weeks unless extended by mutual consent.

The allied and associated Governments propose that such of
these Governments as are willing to accept the terms of this
armistice, shall send not more than three representatives
each, together with necessary technical experts, to
Christiania, where they shall meet on April 25 with
representatives of the allied and associated Governments in
conference to discuss peace 'and the provisioning of Russia,
upon the basis of the following principles:

1. All signatory Governments shall remain, as
against each other, in full control of the
territories which they occupy at the moment when
the armistice becomes effective, subject to such
rectifications as may be agreed upon by the
conference, or until the peoples inhabiting these
territories shall themselves voluntarily determine
to change their government.

2. The right of free entry, sojourn, circulation,
and full security shall be accorded by the several
signatories to the citizens of each other;
provided, however, that such persons comply with
the laws of the country to which they seek
admittance, and provided also-that they do not
interfere or attempt to interfere in any way with
the domestic politics of that country.

3. The right to send official representatives
enjoying full liberty and immunity shall be
accorded by the several signatories to one
another.

4. A general amnesty shall be granted by the
various signatories to all political or military
opponents, offenders, and prisoners who are so
treated because of their association or
affiliation with another signatory, provided that
they have not otherwise violated the laws of the
land.

5. Nationals of one signatory residing or detained
in the country of another shall be given all
possible facilities for repatriation.

6. The allied and associated Governments will
immediately withdraw their armed forces and
further military support from the territory of the
former Russian Empire, including Finland and the
various Governments within that territory shall
effect a simultaneous reduction of armed forces
according to a scheme of demobilization and
control to be agreed upon by the conference.

7. Any economic blockade imposed by one signatory
as against another shall be lifted and trade
relations shall be established, subject to a
program of equitable distribution of supplies and
utilization of transport facilities to be agreed
upon by the conference in consultation with
representatives of those neutral States which are
prepared to assume the responsibility for the
provisioning of Russia.

8. Provision shall be made by the conference for a
mutual exchange of transit and port privileges among
the several signatories.

9. The Governments which have been set up on the
territory of the former Russian Empire and Finland
shall recognize their responsibility for the
financial obligations of the former Russian Empire
to foreign States parties to this agreement and to
the nationals of such States. Detailed
arrangements for discharging these obligations
shall be agreed upon by the conference, regard
being had to the present financial situation of
Russia.

10. The conference shall be competent to discuss and
determine any other matter which bears upon the
provisioning of Russia, the problem of establishing
peace within the territory of the former Russian
Empire, including Finland, and the reestablishment of
international relations among the signatories.

Mr. BULLITT. I also prepared at the orders of Col. House------

Senator KNOX. What attitude did you take toward the Nansen proposal?

Mr. BULLITT. At first I opposed it. I was in favor of the original plan.

Senator KNOX. You were in favor of the original plan?

Mr. BULLITT. I was in favor of direct, straightforward action in the matter. However, I found that there was no use in kicking against the pricks, that I was unable to persuade the commission that my point of view was the correct one. Therefore at the request of Col. House I wrote out a reply to Dr. Nansen, in which I embodied a peace proposal so that it would have meant a peace conference via Nansen, which was what was desired.

Senator BRANDEGEE. Was that letter delivered to Nansen?

Mr. BULLITT. No. I gave this reply of mine to Col. House. Col. House read it and said he would approve it, but that before he gave it to the President and to Lloyd George as his solution of the way to deal with this Russian matter, he wished it considered by his international law experts, Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Miller, and it was thereupon turned over that afternoon to Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Miller. Does the Senator desire this document?

Senator KNOX. I do not regard it as material. It was not accepted?

Mr. BULLITT. It was not accepted. What happened in regard to this was that Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Miller, to correct its legal language, produced a proposition which was entirely different, which left out all possibility of the matter coming to a peace conference, and was largely an offer to feed Russia provided Russia put all her railroads in the hands of the allied and associated Governments. I have that as well.

Senator BRANDEGEE. Do you object to having that put in the record, Senator Knox?

Senator KNOX. No.

Senator BRANDEGEE. I would like to have that put in.

(The document referred to is here printed in full, as follows:)

(AUCHINCLOSS-MILLER PROPOSAL)

Draft of proposed letter to be signed by President Wilson
and the prime ministers of Great Britain, France, and Italy
in reply to Mr. Nansen's letter:

DEAR SIR: The situation of misery and suffering in Russia
which is described in your letter of April 3 is one which
appeals to the sympathies of all peoples of the world.
Regardless of political differences or shades of thought,
the knowledge that thousands and perhaps millions of men,
and above all of women and children lack the food and the
necessities which make life endurable is one which is
shocking to humanity.

The Governments and the peoples whom we represent, without
thought of political, military or financial advantage, would
be glad to cooperate in any proposal which would relieve the
existing situation in Russia. It seems to us that such a
commission as you propose, purely humanitarian in its
purpose, would offer a practical means of carrying out the
beneficent results which you have in view and could not
either in its conception or its operation be considered as
having in view any other aim than "the humanitarian purpose
of saving life."

It is true that there are great difficulties to be overcome,
political difficulties owing to the existing situation in
Russia, and difficulties of supply and transport. But if the
existing de facto governments of Russia are all willing as
the Governments and peoples whom we represent to see succor
and relief given to the stricken peoples of Russia, no
political difficulties will remain as obstacles thereto.

There will remain, however, the difficulties of supply and
transport which we have mentioned and also the problem of
distribution in Russia itself. The problem of supply we can
ourselves safely hope to solve in connection with the advice
and cooperation of such a commission as you propose. The
problem of transport of supplies to Russia we can hope to
meet with the assistance of your own and other neutral
Governments.

The difficulties of transport in Russia can in large degree
only be overcome in Russia itself. So far as possible, we
would endeavor to provide increased means of transportation;
but we would consider it essential in any such scheme of
relief that control of transportation in Russia, so far as
was necessary in the distribution of relief supplies, should
be placed wholly under such a commission as is described in
your letter and should to the necessary extent be freed from
any governmental or private control whatsoever.

The real human element in the situation, even supposing all
these difficulties to be surmounted, is the problem of
distribution, the problem of seeing that the food reaches
the starving, the medicines the sick, the clothing the
naked. Subject to the supervision of such a commission, this
is a problem which should be solely under the control of the
people of Russia themselves so far as it is humanly possible
to put it under their control. It is not a question of class
or of race or of politics but a question of human beings in
need, and these human beings in each locality should be
given, as under the regime of the Belgian relief commission,
the fullest opportunity to advise the commission upon the
methods and the personnel by which their community is to be
relieved. Under no other circumstances could it be believed
that the purpose of this relief was humanitarian and not
political, and still more important, under no other
conditions could it be certain that the hungry would be fed.
That such a course would involve cessation of hostilities by
Russian troops would of course mean a cessation of all
hostilities on the Russian fronts. Indeed, relief to Russia
which did not mean a return to a state of peace would be
futile, and would be impossible to consider.

Under such conditions as we have outlined, we believe that
your plan could be successfully carried into effect and we
should be prepared to give it our full support.

Senator KNOX. What I am anxious to get at is to find out what became of your report.

Senator FALL. I should like to know whether Col. House approved Mr. Auchincloss's and Mr. Miller's report, or the report of the witness.

Mr. BULLITT. I should like to have this clear, and if I can read just this one page I shall be greatly obliged. On this proposition I wrote the following memorandum to Mr. Auchincloss [reading]:

APRIL 4, 1919.

Memorandum for Mr. Auchincloss:

DEAR GORDON: I have studied carefully the draft of the reply
to Dr. Nansen which you have prepared. In spirit and
substance your letter differs so radically from the reply
which I consider essential that I find it difficult to make
any constructive criticism. And I shall refrain from
criticizing your rhetoric.

There are two proposals in your letter, however, which are
obviously unfair and will not, I am certain, be accepted by
the Soviet Government.

1. The life of Russia depends upon its railroads;
and your demand for control of transportation by
the commission can hardly be accepted by the
Soviet Government which knows that plots for the
destruction of railroad bridges were hatched in
the American consulate in Moscow. You are asking
the Soviet Government to put its head in the
lion's mouth. It will not accept. You must
moderate your phrases.

2. When you speak of the "cessation of hostilities
by Russian troops," you fail to speak of
hostilities by troops of the allied and associated
Governments, a number of whom, you may recall,
have invaded Russia. Furthermore, your phrase does
not cover Finns, Esthonians, Letts, Poles, etc. In
addition, you say absolutely nothing about the
withdrawal of the troops of the allied and
associated Governments from Russian territory.
And, most important, you fail to say that troops
and military supplies will cease to be sent into
the territory of the former Russian Empire. You
thereby go a long way toward proving Trotsky's
thesis: That any armistice will simply be used by
the Allies as a period in which to supply tanks,
aeroplanes, gas shells, liquid fire, etc., to the
various antisoviet governments. As it stands, your
armistice proposal is absolutely unfair, and I am
sure that it will not be accepted by the Soviet
Government.

Very respectfully, yours,

WILLIAM C. BULLITT.

Senator NEW. Otherwise you had no fault to find with it?

Mr. BULLITT. Yes. The morning after Col. House had told me he wished to submit this proposition to his international law experts, I came as usual to his office about 9.40, and Mr. Auchincloss was on his way to the President with his proposal, the Auchincloss-Miller proposal, as Col. House's proposal. But I got that stopped. I went in to Col. House, and Col. House told Mr. Auchincloss not to take it up to the President, and asked me if I could doctor up the reply of Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Miller to the Nansen letter so that it might possibly be acceptable to the Soviet Government. I thereupon rewrote the Auchincloss-Miller letter, but I was forced to stick very closely to the text. I was told that I could cut things out if I wished to, but to stick very closely to the text, which I did. I drew this redraft of their letter, under protest at the whole business. My redraft of their letter was finally the basis of the reply of the four to Nansen. I have both these documents here, my reply--and the four took that reply--and with the changes----

The CHAIRMAN. What four--the successors of the ten?

Mr. BULLITT. The successors of the 10, sir, took the reply------

The CHAIRMAN. Who were the four at that moment?

Mr. BULLITT. M. Orlando, Mr. Lloyd George, M. Clemenceau, and the President. This extremely mild proposition, which really had almost no chance of life, was, you will see, in no sense a reply to these proposals of the Soviet Government. This is my attempt to doctor up the Auchincloss-Miller proposition. In spite of every effort I could make to obtain definite action on it, the reply was made to me that this reply to the Nansen proposal would be a sufficient reply to that proposal of the Soviet Government. [Reading:]

DEAR SIR: The misery and suffering in Russia described in
your letter of April 3 appeals to the sympathies of all
peoples. It is shocking to humanity that millions of men,
women, and children lack the food and the necessities, which
make life endurable.

The Governments and peoples whom we represent would be glad
to cooperate, without thought of political, military, or
financial advantage, in any proposal which would relieve
this situation in Russia. It seems to us that such a
commission as you propose would offer a practical means of
achieving the beneficent results you have in view, and could
not, either in its conception or its operation, be
considered as having any other aim than the "humanitarian
purpose of saving life."

There are great difficulties to be overcome, political difficulties, owing to the existing situation in Russia, and difficulties of supply and transport. But if the existing local governments of Russia are as willing as the Governments and the peoples whom we represent to see succor and relief given to the stricken peoples of Russia, no political obstacle will remain. There will remain, however, the difficulties of supply and transport, which we have mentioned, and also the problem of distribution in Russia itself. The problem of supply we can ourselves hope to solve, in connection with the advice and cooperation of such a commission as you propose. The problem of transport of supplies to Russia we can hope to meet with the assistance of your own and other neutral Governments. The problem of transport in Russia and of distribution can be solved only by the people of Russia themselves, with the assistance, advice, and supervision of your commission.

Subject to such supervision, the problem of distribution should be solely under the control of the people of Russia themselves. The people in each locality should be given, as under the regime of the Belgian Relief Commission, the fullest opportunity to advise your commission upon the methods and the personnel by which their community is to be relieved. In no other circumstances could it be believed that the purpose of this relief was humanitarian, and not political, under no other conditions could it be certain that the hungry would be fed.

That such a course would involve cessation of all hostilities within the territory of the former Russian Empire is obvious. And the cessation of hostilities would, necessarily, involve a complete suspension of the transfer of troops and military material of all sorts to and within these territories. Indeed, relief to Russia which did not mean a return to a state of peace would be futile, and would be impossible to consider.

Under such conditions as we have outlined we believe that your plan could be successfully carried into effect, and we should be prepared to give it our full support.

REPLY OF PRESIDENT WILSON, PREMIERS CLEMENCEAU, LLOYD GEORGE, AND ORLANDO, TO DR. NANSEN, APRIL 17, 1919

There will remain, however, the difficulties of supply,
finance, and transport which we have mentioned? and also the
problem of distribution in Russia itself. The problem of
supply we can ourselves hope to solve, in connection with
the advice and cooperation of such a commission as you
propose. The problem of finance would seem to us to fall
upon the Russian authorities. The problem of transport of
supplies to Russia we can hope to meet with the assistance
of your own and other neutral governments whose interests
should be as great as our own and whose losses have been far
less. The problems of transport in Russia and of
distribution can be solved only by the people of Russia
themselves, with the assistance, advice, and supervision of
your commission.

Subject to your supervision, the problem of distribution
should be solely under the control of the people of Russia
themselves. The people in each locality should be given, as
under the regime of the Belgian Relief Commission, the
fullest opportunity to advise your commission upon the
methods and the personnel by which their community is to be
relieved. In no other circumstances could it be believed
that the purpose of this relief was humanitarian, and not
political; under no other condition could it be certain that
the hungry would be fed.

That such a course would involve cessation of all
hostilities within definitive lines in the territory of
Russia is obvious. And the cessation of hostilities would,
necessarily, involve a complete suspension of the transfer
of troops and military material of all sorts to and within
Russian territory. Indeed, relief to Russia which did not
mean a return to a state of peace would be futile and would
be impossible to consider.

Under such conditions as we have outlined, we believe that
your plan could be successfully carried into effect, and we
should be prepared to give it our full support.

V.E. ORLANDO.
D. LLOYD GEORGE.
WOODROW WILSON.
G. CLEMENCEAU.

Senator KNOX. I want the reply of Auchincloss to Nansen to go into the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Let all that correspondence be printed in the record.

Senator KNOX. Dr. Nansen's proposition, and then the reply,

(The letters referred to are inserted above.)

Mr. BULLITT. The Nansen letter was written in Mr. Hoover's office. Nansen made the proposition. I wrote the original of a reply to Dr. Nansen, which I believe would have led to peace. Col. House indicated his approval of it, but wished to have it considered from the international legal standpoint, which was then done by Mr. Auchincloss and Mr. Miller, who proposed a reply that had no resemblance to my proposal. I then objected to that as it was on its way to the President. It was not sent to the President, and I was ordered to try to doctor it up. I attempted to doctor it up and produced a doctored version which was finally made the basis of the reply, with the change of two or three words which made it even worse and even more indefinite, so that the Soviet Government could not possibly conceive it as a genuine peace proposition. It left the whole thing in the air.

Senator KNOX. We would like to have you see that these documents to which you have just now referred are inserted in the record in the sequence in which you have named them.

Mr. BULLITT. Yes, I shall be at the service of the committee in that regard.

Senator HARDING. Lest I missed something while I was out of the room I am exceedingly curious to know why the Soviet proposal was not given favorable consideration.

Senator KNOX. Mr. Bullitt has stated that.

KOLCHAK'S ADVANCE CAUSES REJECTION OF PEACE PROPOSAL

Mr. BULLITT. The principal reason was entirely different. The fact was that just at this moment, when this proposal was under consideration, Kolchak made a 100-mile advance. There was a revolt of peasants in a district of Russia which entirely cut off supplies from the Bolshevik army operating against Kolchak. Kolchak made a 100-mile advance, and immediately the entire press of Paris was roaring and screaming on the subject, announcing that Kolchak would be in Moscow within two weeks; and therefore everyone in Paris, including, I regret to say members of the American commission, began to grow very lukewarm about peace in Russia, because they thought Kolchak would arrive in Moscow and wipe out the Soviet Government.

Senator KNOX. And the proposal which you brought back from Russia, that is the Soviet proposal, was abandoned and dropped, after this last document to which you have just referred.

Mr. BULLITT. Yes; it was. May I say this, that April 10 was the final date when their proposition was open. I had attempted every day and almost every night to obtain a reply to it. I finally requested the commission to send the following telegram to Tchitcherin.

I proposed to send this telegram to the American consul at Helsingfors [reading]:

APRIL 10, 1919.
AMERICAN CONSUL, Helsingfors:

Please send Kock or other reliable person immediately to
Petrograd to Schklovsky, minister of foreign affairs, with
following message for Tchitcherin:

"Action leading to food relief via neutrals likely within
week.--Bullitt."

AMMISSION.

The commission considered that matter, and this is the official minute of their meeting [reading]:

AMERICAN MISSION TO NEGOTIATE PEACE,
[No. 211.] April 10, 1919.

To: The Commissioners, for action.
Subject: Telegram to Tchitcherin.

_Statement_.--Action by the council of four on the reply to
Mr. Nansen was prevented yesterday by French objection to a
minor clause in the President's letter. It is hoped that
agreement in this matter may be reached to-day or to-morrow,
but it is quite possible that agreement may not be reached
for several days.

To-day, April 10, the pledge of the Soviet Government to
accept a proposal of the sort outlined in its statement of
March 14 expires. No indication has been given the Soviet
Government that its statement was ever placed before the
conference of Paris or that any change of policy in regard
to Russia is contemplated. In view of the importance which
the Soviet Government placed upon its statement, I fear that
this silence and the passing of April 10 will be interpreted
as a definite rejection of the peace effort of the Soviet
Government and that the Soviet Government will at once issue
belligerent political statements and orders for attacks on
all fronts, including Bessarabia and Archangel. It is
certain that if the soviet troops should enter Bessarabia or
should overcome the allied forces at Archangel, the
difficulty of putting through the policy which is likely to
be adopted within the next few days would be greatly
increased. I feel that if the appended telegram should be
sent at once to Tchitcherin, no large offensive movements by
the soviet armies would be undertaken for another week, and
no provocative political statements would be issued.

I therefore respectfully suggest that the appended telegram
should be sent at once.

Respectfully submitted.

WILLIAM C. BULLITT.

APRIL 10, 1919.

At the meeting of the commissioners this morning the above memorandum was read in which Mr. Bullitt requested that a telegram be sent to the American consul at Helsingfors, instructing the latter to send a message through reliable sources to Tchitcherin respecting Mr. Lansing's contemplated scheme for relief in Russia. After some discussion the commissioners redrafted the telegram in question to read as follows:

"Please send Kock or other reliable person immediately to
Petrograd to Schklovsky, minister of foreign affairs, with
following message for Tchitcherin, sent on my personal
responsibility: 'Individuals of neutral States are
considering organization for feeding Russia. Will perhaps
decide something definite within a week.'--Bullitt."

CHRISTIAN A. HERTER,
Assistant to Mr. White.

I believe that telegram was dispatched. I do not know.

Senator KNOX. Mr. Bullitt, I want to ask you a question. You have told us that you went to Russia with instructions from the Secretary of State, Mr. Lansing, with a definition of the American policy by Mr. House, with the approval of Lloyd George, who approved of your mission, of the purposes for which you were being sent. Now, tell us whether or not to your knowledge your report and the proposal of the Soviet Government was ever formally taken up by the peace conference and acted on?

Mr. BULLITT. It was never formally laid before the peace conference, which I believe met only six times during the course of the entire proceedings of what is called the peace conference.

LLOYD GEORGE DECEIVES PARLIAMENT

Senator KNOX. Did not Mr. Lloyd George in a speech to Parliament assert that he had never received the proposal with which you returned from Russia? Have you a copy of his speech?

Mr. BULLITT. About a week after I had handed to Mr. Lloyd George the official proposal, with my own hands, in the presence of three other persons, he made a speech before the British Parliament, and gave the British people to understand that he knew nothing whatever about any such proposition. It was a most egregious case of misleading the public, perhaps the boldest that I have ever known in my life. On the occasion of that statement of Mr. Lloyd George, I wrote the President. I clipped his statement from a newspaper and sent it to the President, and I asked the President to inform me whether the statement of Mr. Lloyd George was true or untrue. He was unable to answer, inasmuch as he would have had to reply on paper that Mr. Lloyd George had made an untrue statement. So flagrant was this that various members of the British mission called on me at the Crillon, a day or so later, and apologized for the Prime Minister's action in the case.

Senator KNOX. Have you a copy of Lloyd George's remarks in the Parliament?

Mr. BULLITT. I have a copy.

Senator KNOX. Suppose you read it?

Mr. BULLITT. It is as follows:

Mr. CLYNES. Before the right honorable gentleman comes to the next subject, can he make any statement on the approaches or representations alleged to have been made to his Government by persons acting on behalf of such government as there is in Central Russia?

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE. We have had no approaches at all except what have appeared in the papers.

Mr. CLYNES. I ask the question because it has been repeatedly alleged.

Mr. LLOYD GEORGE. We have had no approaches at all. Constantly there are men coming and going to Russia of all nationalities, and they always come back with their tales of Russia. But we have made no approach of any sort.

I have only heard reports of others having proposals which they assume have come from authentic quarters, but these have never been put before the peace conference by any member, and therefore we have not considered them.

I think I know what my right honorable friend refers to. There was some suggestion that a young American had come back from Russia with a communication. It is not for me to judge the value of this communication, but if the President of the United States had attached any value to it he would have brought it before the conference, and he certainly did not.

It was explained to me by the members of the British delegation who called on me, that the reason for this deception was that although when Lloyd George got back to London he intended to make a statement very favorable to peace with Russia, he found that Lord Northcliffe, acting through Mr. Wickham Steed, the editor of The Times, and Mr. Winston Churchill, British secretary for war, had rigged the conservative majority of the House of Commons against him, and that they were ready to slay him then and there if he attempted to speak what was his own opinion at the moment on Russian policies.

MR. BULLITT RESIGNS

Senator KNOX. Mr. Bullitt, you resigned your relations with the State Department and the public service, did you not?

Mr. BULLITT. I did, sir.

Senator KNOX. When?

Mr. BULLITT. I resigned on May 17.

Senator KNOX. For what reason?

Mr. BULLITT. Well, I can explain that perhaps more briefly than in any other way by reading my letter of resignation to the President, which is brief.

Senator KNOX. Very well, we would like to hear it.

The CHAIRMAN. Before that letter is read, you did not see the President and had no knowledge of his attitude in regard to your report?

Mr. BULLITT. None whatever, except as it was reported to me by Col. House. Col. House, as I said before, reported to me that he thought in the first place that the President favored the peace proposal; in the second place, that the President could not turn his mind to it, because he was too occupied with Germany, and finally--well, really, I have no idea what was in the President's mind.

Senator KNOX. There never was another effort to secure an audience with the President for you after those first two that you say Col. House made?

Mr. BULLITT. No; not at all. Meetings with the President were always arranged through Col. House.

In my letter of resignation to the President, which was dated May 17, 1919, I said:

MAY 17, 1919.

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The Bullitt Mission to RussiaChapter III: Part 3

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