House replied that we were prepared to.
Further, I asked Col. House whether it was necessary to get
a flat and explicit assurance from the Soviet Government
that they would make full payment of all their debts before
we would make peace with them, and Col. House replied that
it was not; that no such statement was necessary, however,
that such a statement would be extremely desirable to have,
inasmuch as much of the French opposition to making peace
with the Soviet Government was on account of the money owed
by Russia to France.
I further had an intimation of the British disposition
toward Russia. As I said before, I had discussed the matter
with Mr. Philip Kerr, and Sir Maurice Hankey and Col. House
asked me to inform Mr. Kerr of my mission before I went. It
was to be an entire secret from all except the British. The
British and American delegations worked in very close touch
throughout the conference, and there were practically no
secrets that the American delegation had that were not also
the property of the British delegation.
THE BRITISH TERMS
I was asked to inform Mr. Kerr of this trip. I told him all about it,
and asked him if he could get Mr. Balfour and Mr. Lloyd George to give
me a general indication of their point of view on peace with Russia;
what they would be prepared to do in the matter.
Pages:
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55