SECTION THREE
BUSINESS NEWS
SIXTEEN PAGES
WANT ADS
J i
PORTLAND, OREGONt SUNDAY MORNING, ; APRIL ; 1922.
f. v. v'
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and Secrecy at Paris
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By RAY STANNARD BAKER -j v : : ; V
Ta lnwUf Jirmrml fcerawlta tmnU tha tvriftk toatauavfet ef tha Bar Staanerd Baker's atory.
"Tha Pwn" welch to nthoritatira aartati, of bow taa paane af Paris was aonchaiad. I
Wan4(w Wilms sara Mr. Baker aaeaa to all af his panonal antxiblUhed pa pan, -which an tha
air raHabta awl lawomwmnrrtibi naorda af tha facta, and wales baratofof hsvs Barer baaa
Iba apoahal faatara wtU ba pnblaUMd ta Tba Journal aerially thrtmthoot tha Tau.
(CamWkV UIS, kr DonMaitay. rHa Co, rabUxW Vy Bpadal linmaiint Uk
, te MeOaxa llavapaiiar BrBctioaU) , ,..
ONE FACT stands ut at thParta Pfac conference aa dlatlnctlTa and
: uiKiiuiiuni, w vnat ua peopia ox ina "woria were mere repre-
ftented and. orranUed aa nerer. before at, any peace confence.. At the
elder conrreas the diplomats occupied the enUre stare, barralned. ar
ranged and secretly agreed; but at Paris democracy,' like
the blind cod In Dunaany's play. Itself comes lumbering
roughly, powerfully, out upon the stage.
In many ways the most powerful and least consid
ered group of men at Paris were the newspaper corre
spondents we had ! of them from America alone.
I heard them called "ambassadors of public opinion."
Here they were with rich and "powerful news' associa
tions or newspapers or magazines behind them, and
with Instant communication arailable to every part of
the world. Since Vienna In Itll, since Verona in 1822,
when the great powers agreed secretly to suppress the
liberty of the press because "it Is the most powerful
means used by the pretended supporters of the rights
of nations to the detriment of those of princes -since
thoes old times popular education, universal suffrage, a cheap press and
communication, had utterly changed the world. At Parle these am
bassadors of publto opinion -at least those from America -had come not
brgmg, but demanding. ' : "
They sat at every doorway, they I Imporance of the problem of aecrecr
looked ever every shoulder, they wanted I and publicity at the conference haa here
every raaolatlon and report aad wasted I been exasperated, but an examination
I jZ....a,
Zlay Stannard
, Baker
H tnunedlately. X shall never. format the I
delrstlon ef American newspaper men.
led by John Nevln, I saw come striding
ChroxiKh that holy, of holies, the French
zoreiKR office, demanding that they be
admitted to the first general session of
ue peace conference. They horrified
the upholders of the old methods, they
deprately; offended the ancient con
ventions, they were as rough and direct
as democracy Itself,
While there was a gesture of uncon-
eern. of dont-eare-what-they say, en the
part ef some of the leaders, no aspect
ef the conference la reality worried them
more than the news, opinions, guesses
that went out by the score of thousands
ef words evear night, and the reaction
which came back so promptly from them.
Unlike the princes at Vienna a hundred
years before, nearly every leader at
Farla well, knew .that he was dependent
u port an electorate that might shout' st
any moment, "Off with his head!" and
tht the Judgment of that electorate was
barad upon what theae sggreeelve am
banaadors of public opinion were nightly
putting out to the four winds from the
wireless tower at Lyons, or sending by
eeble .ander the saaa
DIPLOMATS ALAftXKD ' " " ,' ' . " V
' The diplomats at Paris were not only
alarmed by the invasion of the public
' epal'ly the aggressive and powerful
Invaalon.of the American press, but pus
sied. genuinely poaaled. They were lust
tfirouch with an Iron-clad censorship of
the preae which bad lasted four years.
VI en like Balfour, trained In the old
arhooL would have liked, to find a new
way, but did not know how and were
afraid. The Whole technique, 'Indeed, of
dealing with publics In the matter ef
foreign affairs was fire-new. There
was no background, no experience, to go
by. except the grim traditions of a man
like Bonnlno ot Italy, who waa for plod,
ding straight ahead oblivious of publie
plnlofi. according to the old methoda of
secret meetings, secret bargains, secret
treaties. He was the only leader ta
Farle who seemed never to doubt.
How far waa tha nobUo to be taken
ante the confidence of the delegates t
Jtow eoutd the press be kept la the
dark aad yet remain docfle enough to
b eaed whan needed? Was the prees
to be eeneored or controlled by the lead
ers la power or by the foreign office,
as the French bad tried to do ItT Clem-
nor a a had a dosen papers at Parts
which would change their position over
night when he crooked his finger,
Xhould the press be shouldered per
emptorily aside, as one group of Ital
ian eought to do it. or, dine and wined
and spoofed with propaganda. as an
other Italian group tried to do UT Or
should the preas be treated as Lloyd
Cleorxe t mated It. by flattering one group
and flghthMT anothart By knighting or
raising friendly editors to the peerage
and ilaanchtng heated attacks in parlia
ment on the unfriendly editors as. for
example, upon the London Time In
which he called Lord Korthcllffe a grass
Koppor, or shoald the Wilson method,
which waa the polar opposite of the
Ueyd George method, be adopted, ot
avoiding to the point f actual squeam
lahneee any discrimination between news
papers er any attempt' whatever either
to Influence-or attack themT
It may seem at first eight that the
of the minutes and documents srlves
astonishing evidence of the amount of
time, anxiety, discussion, devoted to the
consideration of what to do about
public opinion and the press. This ef
fort oegan on the first day to get
at some standard, some method, which
would meet the widely different condi
tions in different countries, and this
continued throughout the conference. It
influenced tha entire procedure: it was
partly Instrumental in driving the four
neaos or states finally into small secret
conferences. . The full achievement of
publicity on one occasion Wilson's Ital
ian note nearly broke up the conference
and overturned a government. The
bare threat of it upon other occasions
cnanged the course of discussion. As
a matter of fact, nothing concerned
the confence more than what democ
racy waa going to do with diplomacy,
AIDS TO PUBLICITY
Almost the first of President Wilson's
official acts in connection with the neace
eonference after his arrival was to pro-
vwe ror an organisation for publicity.
During tha war the committee of public
Information, under 1 George Creel's di
rection, had given publicity throughout
uis .world to the .purposes oa America.
it was rrankiy propagandist. It was
part of war, to which propaganda is as
necessary as gunpowder. But the mo
ment the war closed Its funf tion ceased
and Mr. Creel began: winding ud Its
affairs. On November It, chree days
after the armistice, announcement waa
made of the discontinuance of the volun
tary censorship agreement under which
the American press had loyally worked,
and on November 18 all press censorship
ef cables and malls was discontinued.
President Wilson was strongly In favor
oi putting the relationship of govern
ment and press as quickly as possible
upon a peace basis of absolute freedom.
Hot only did the government refrain
from bringing any influence to bear upon
publicity, but it made every effort to
facilitate cne passage of newspaper
writers of every shade of opinion to
France, throwing down all , passport
barriers and providing a shin, the Orl-
saba, for their free transportation ; and
afterward, during the conference. In
order to relieve the congestion of the
commercial . eablea, transmltttntar free
aad without any sort of censorship or
ciacnrainauon between newspapers
friendly to the administration and those
opposed to it a large volume of press
aispatcnes uauy ay wireless. While the
press waa thus intensely suspicious of
government Influence upon Its news or
opinions, ii was ai uie same ume ask.
lng and receiving- Important material
and mechanical assistance from the gov-
eminent.
. . On December IS President Wilson ar
rived ' tn - Europe, - accompanied on the
George Washington by representatives
ot the three great press associations and
closely followed by some 80 newspaper
correspondents -who had coma by the
Orixaba and other . ships. There were
SO or 40 American correspondents al
ready In Paris, every one of them hun
gry for news. , It waa necessary to in
stitute at once some channel for the In
formation of- these men. and through
them the public of America." On Decern
ber 1?, therefore, the president took the
matter under advisement, consulting
with Colonel House and Mr. Creel, and
outhned hia plans In a letter to each of
the commissioners (which was published
in full In the first chapter of this se
ries). 1 " V'" 'niV-
The plan advanced two methoda one
of direct access to the commissioners,
though not to. the president himself ; the
other a publicity organisation to be
headed by the writer, both aimed at
giving the correspondents aa much ac
cess and assistance as possible. It did
not and could not.- or course provide
admittance to the sessions of the peace
conference, itself, for that depended upon
the future action of the allied delegates.
STRUGGLE OYEB KEWS " ,
From this point onward the struggle
for and against publicity at Paris the
whole new problem of how publics were
to be Informed of International affairs-
developed in two broad channels, one in
side the secret councils of the peace con
ference, the other outside among the pow
erful .agencies of the press. Neither of.
theses aspects of the peace conference,
each of which reacted powerfully upon
the other, haa anywhere been adequately
presented;'' iV.
The forces outside the secret confer
ences willi be considered first ; these Were
the forces of attack, demanding wider
publicity. What did they represent, how
were they organised and now flia tney
carry on their campaign? , After that we
shall consider tin : the next chapter),
how the peace eonference reacted as re
corded tn the secret minutes. The old
dinlomacv waa distinctly upon the defen
sive, and yielded every Inch of ground
with reluctance and bitterness and final
ly dug Itself in. The record here, of
America and of President Wilson Is most
significant. - .
SH WRITERS PRESENT
There was never before anything like
such a gathering ot the forces of pub
licity from every part of the world. Con
servatively estimated, at the height of
the conference, SOO writers were devot
ing their whole time to spreading" abroad
information and opinion aa to what was
happening commending, criticising, tell
ing the truth, telling what was not the
truin snaping. in snort, uio opuuoa u
the word. It was a formidable body of
men and women,, more powerful in cer
tain ways than the delegates themselves.
Here were writers, not only from the
so-called Great Powers, but from China,
Korea, India, Egypt, ' South America and.
during a part of the period, writers irora
Germany and Austria. Moat or tne neu
tral countries were represented and often
by exceedingly able men, like those from
Holland. Kvery shade of opinion, from
conservative to radical, was represented.
There developed a kind of congress of
the press a conference of the ambassa
dors of public opinion outside - of "the
peace r conference, which was of great
value to all writers there, for nront&bie
friendships were formed and mutual un
derstandings of the utmost value devel
oped. '.. v.
If American writers, , many of whom
had In the beginning practically no
back ground of knowledge of foreign af
fairs, especially benefited by these con
tacts, It is not too much to say that
they infected correspondents from other
countries with something of their ag
gressive spirit. One of .the. Incidental,
but important results of the Paris con
ference was the schooling ot a large
number of younger writers of all coun
tries, who will, be shaping the public
opinion of the next quarter .century, in
knowledge of world affairs' and in the
understanding of other peoples.'
The French, with fine hospitality, had
provided a gorgeous club, he Hotel
DufaveL In the Chamna Elvseea.- which
was a common meeting ground for the
writers ot all nations. They had hoped
also to make It a common working place.
but its social aspects were. Irresistibly
uppermost and the American o
spondenta - particularly desired to be
closer to the headquarters of the Amer
ican commission. .. ' -t -SHADES
OF OTHER DATS
If the ghosts of those leaders at Vienna
In ISIS Castlereagh aad Talleyrand and
tha czar of Russia could have dropped
down into Paris, nothing would have
surprised and scandalised them more
than this extraordinary group of writers
that could . not be controlled, and they
would have. had trouble Indeed In grasp
ing at all the new world opinion that
lay behind and supported those unom
dal delegates. And finally,, it would
have been - utterly hopeless to make
them understand how these men func
tioned, how the words they wrote to
night would be read tomorrow' morning
on the farther side of the globe, v '
It sometimes indeed came over the
modern man at Paris tha sheer miracle
of the thing. . The writer sat in his office
many evenings listening to the whir of
the correspondents typewriters and
thinking of the waves of Ideas, opln
Ions, information, flowing - outward
through the darkness and space with the
speed' of lightning, both .through the
air and under the seas, and how these
reports would be read In the morning in
the subway of New Tork! or in Mel
bourne or Cape Town, or Tokio I how
they would build up, little by little, one
way or another, that subtle but incalcu
lably powerful new force, world public
opinion. Here was . the ganglion, the
nerve center pf the peace conference,
sending forth to humanity : those ; im
pulses, to action wise action or unwise
action upon which rested, the: future of
the world. It seemed to him at such
times that nothing In the world was
more important - than the work; of these
men, that there was no graver i task at
Paris than that of keeping the channels
freely open and the sources dear and
true. ' v - '
CABLE AKD WIRELESS PROBLEMS
The mechanical problem of the conti
nental and even of the British press (the
British correspondents used - telephones
extensively or could upon occasion hop
home of an afternoon in a flying-ma
chine) was comparatively i simple ; . but
that of the, American, Asiatic Austra
lian, - South African press was often
difficult and complicated. ? The volume
ot news was enormous,': - According to
the best available estimates American
correspondence alone sent over by wire
less and cables a good-sized volume,
70,000 to 80,000 words (often more) every
day, :, to- say nothing of an immense
amount by mail. . ":
At the beginning of the .peace confer
ence there were -17 cables in existence
between America and Europe, but only
eight of them were in working condi
tion, and these had to carry not only
press dispatches but all urgent govern-
ment and military business, aS well as
a vast volume of commercial dispatches.
Two ot the three main lines of com
munication eastward with Asia were out
Ish. who were : represented by : George
aiair. ' ; ' ,
When i the i summary was first issued
In America it was attacked in the United
States senate as not being a . faithful
record of what was in the treaty, but
as a matter of fact the various- para
graphs of it were most carefully pre
pared, often by the experts themselves
who had drafted them, and, so' far as I
know, after comparison with the treaty
itself, there waa never any further ques
tion ; of;., its accuracy.
This summary was about 14.000 words
in - length, and' the problem of trans
mitting it to various parts of the world
m such ; a manner ; that ' newspapers of
every nation! would have a fair chance.
and so that there would not be premature
publication tn any nation with the
danger of a flash-back, say, from New
York to London or London to Paris.
was a most difficult one. if it-were sent
separately by the press ' associations or
by each correspondent to his own news
paper the communication facilities of the
world- would be swamped f or v days and
we touu cost atupenaous. .
The writer called a meeting of the
heads of the American, British and
French press, with the communication
experts of each (Mr. Rogers for Amer
ica) to meet at the Hotel Duiayel to
discuss this matter, The technical prob
lems were extremely difficult, but we
agreed upon a: method -of dividing, op
uie woria so. mat tne summary would
reach every parti of It with - a Single
transmission.
We arranged' that the TJnlted States
should .transmit the summary for North
America, sending it by way of Conada.
where it would be taken off for the
Canadian press, thence on to New Tork
for the American press. We also agreed
to see that it was distributed for the
west coast or south America and to
opinion, but to serve and work on terms outlined in the president'? original plan.
nf t k. fnlW MMAnn.4AM ta.J.W , V i nm. - .t. . .
of the fullest cooperation with the corre
spondents. .We became the Channel for
notices ot meetings, for all official doc-
amenta and reports. We bore up under
a constant fire of pamphlets and propa-
ganoa rrom other countries.. We had
of commission, owing to the war,- so that J Japan and China. .The British undertook
these Atlantic lines westward had also
to carry a heavy burden of traffic for
Japan and the Far East. The result
was a constant overload and, during the
latter part ot the conference especially,
many delays. '
Every effort was made by the TJnlted
States government to assist the news
papers in overcoming these mechanical
difficulties. - Walter S. Rogers, who had
been with the committee of: public infor
mation and who was in charge of com
munications for the American peace com
mission, made arrangements with the
French government to send i 9000 words a
day of press material from the wireless
tower at Lyons. This service waa gen
erously performed by the French without
charge to America. The allotment was
divided as follows: Three thousand
words were set apart for? the text ;of
routine documents, r resolutions, reports
and speeches for the use of newspapers
in America. - By " this - method, -duplicate
sending by the press associations and by
the press correspondents was - entirely
avoided. " The documents) to be trans
mitted were designattd by our press bu
reau, sent by courier to Mr. Rogers' of
fice, thence to the wireless: operators at
Lyons, and thence to New Tork and dis
tributed there to the press association!
Three thousand words more were divided.
1000 words each, among the three Ameri
can press associations the Associated
Press, the united Press and the Uni
versal Service to be used as -they saw
fit. The remaining S0Q0 words were di
vided between a score of : special cor
respondents of great newspapers, some
getting as low as 100 words a . day.
IMME58E VOLUME '- v ' -
More- than 1,000,000 words' were, thus
handled free during the conference for
the American press in an effort-to get
more complete publicity.' The amount of
money expended by American . news
papers, magazines and press associations
on cable tolls let alone the costly busi
ness of sending to Paris and maintaining
there a small army of men must have
ran wen into millions ot dollars.
One of the greatest problems ever pre
sented to the newspapers of the world
was that of the transmission of the sum
mary of the treaty. As the treaty neared
completion we suddenly came to realise
the immense bulk of it It was-nearly
as long- as a Dickens novel, and if put
on the cables at any one; time would
swamp and disorganize the entire service
for days. The writer discussed .the mat
ter fully with President Wilson, and even
before It was decided by the Council of
Four whether or not the treaty itself
should then be given out a subject more
fully discussed in the. next chapter he
was directed to go ahead Immediately
with the preparation of a summary and
authorized to secure from; the various
commissions all the drafts of clauses tor
Insertion in the treaty, t The French, on
their part, also began the preparation of
a summary under the- direction' of M.
Tardieu. 6 The actual work; on the part
of America was in the hands of my
assistant, Arthur Sweetser, and we
worked In full cooperation with the Brit-
of
to , transmit it to their own- possessions
throughout the ; world Australia. South
Africa and India and to the east coast
of South America and the Scandinavian
countries. , The French. . on " their Dart.
agreed to send it broadcast,, after, due
nouueauon or tne wave length to ': be
used, from the great wireless tower of
Lyons, where it could be picked up by
all, the wireless stations throughout Con
tinental Europe. . It was a feat, never
before attempted In the world and' was
a real example of the informal function
ing or a league ,:qr nations and. all na
tions, allied and enemy, great and small,
equaiiy oeneriteo.
) WhBn the summary was Ooinplete 1 took
up to .f resident Wilson to secure bis
approval (for no one but the individual
experts .had seen a word of it),: but he
scarcely glanced at it, being then under
an unbelievably heavy load of responsl-
bUtty-connected with tha conference it
seif.6o ' I ook f thoT responsibility of
sending u out aa it was. It was, so far
as I know, the longest single cable dis
patch ever sent up to that time. After
it was off we were under a great Strain
of anxiety for fear that someone would
break, over the agreement and the news
papers of some nation would secure an I
advantage over the others. But to our
delight It went through exactly as
planned, leaving Paris at 10 "p. m. May t,
apd ; was ' published simultaneously
throughout the world on Thursday, May
8 the day -after tthe treaty itself was
given to the German delegation.
: PRESS AKD COHFEREKCE
Having this ambassadorial representa
livc of the public at Paris, with a highly
developed mechanical organization - for
spreading, news throughout the whole
world, how was it to be connected with
the peace conference Itself? How were
the channels o be kept open between
the representatives of the governments
oi tine world and the people of the
world! i . : r - , . . . . .
This waa the very heart of the prob
lem; here all the difficulties lay and
here, It must be confessed, there was
partial failure, a consideration of the
elements- of which will be found highly
illuminating. . :;
Let us consider, Erst, the machinery
ana sources oi information.
Offices were opened for the American
press bureau only la few steps from the
Crillon hotel, the headquarters of our
peace commission. It was at one of the
famous "street: corners of the world
where the Rue Roy ale opens out Into
the broad Place de la Concordia and It
Boon became one of the busiest off Ices
of thevi commission. . Every i one who
wanted to reach Americans or American
opinion and: who: did not? sooner , or
later found his way Into. Our offices. ' An
old red carpet which covered the floor
when we came In was' soon" worn to
shreds. 1 Government typewriters, gov
ernment courtiers and. government mes
sengers were : provided and everything
was done to facilitate the work of the
peace representatives. , : -4
We considered it the function of the
press bureau not in any way to influence
f IIMiHlasmisTalTnmnWIM llinillllllHMIIIBllllllill Illiil millllllll Ilillll II
the hifhly difficult gunpowderyprob
'ems to solve of press representation at
plenary and other open sessions, where
only a few press seats could be provided.
A system ' of Identification nassea was
instituted, and we had on our lists dur
ing most most of the peace conference
from 150 to 170 writers. These included
many representatives of the three! pow
erful news associations, special corre
spondents of the 30 or 40 principal news
papers of the -United States, and writers
for newspaper syndicates and magazines.
No distinctions were made at any time
oetween representatives of newspapers.
Wa had with us toot only the corre
spondents of the most powerful news
papers of New Tork, but of small radical
and socialist ' newspapers,- and several
representatives from foreign language
newspapers, v "
CORRESPOSDESTS 6BGA3IZE
Soon after settling down In Paris tha
American press representatives some ot
whom were veteran Washington corre-
sponaents witn experience of the value
of organisation in the press galleries of
congress met In the-office of the press
oureau ana iormea an association, elect
ing Richard. Vv. Qulahan of -The New
Tork Timek as president, and from that
ume onward they not only decided many
of, the difficult problems of representa
tion tn the public meetings of the peace
conference, the distribution of the wire
less allotments provided by the erovern
ment, but they exercised an influence
and pressure- upon the conference itself
far more Important than the public yet
realize. It It had not been for the ener
getic campaign of this American organ
nation, as tne secret records of the
peace, conference clearly reveal, there
wouia nave undoubtedly been far less
access to the conference than there waa.
ana possioiy no plenary sessions at all.
President Wilson, aa I shall show later,
used tha resolutions and demands of the
American correspondents as a powerful
weapon, i within . the councils, in his
struggle for more publicity. -
.One of the greatest difficulties at first
confronting j most American journalists
was a fundamental want of knowledge
or background of international affairs.
They had Come from a country which
had been traditionally isolated, with no
great interests outside of its own bor
dera. : Most of them spoke no language
but English;- some had never been
abroad before," and yet they were now
asked. In peril of their reputations, , to
write uponj. the ' most complicated and
difficult network of questions known to
men. v-A' few American correspondents
had been long in Europe , and were as
well acquainted with International af
fairs as most of the English and French
writers, but to a large proportion of
Americans at first though they learned
quickly the conditions, problems, per
sonalities, psychology, language were all
new, and the handicap was great.' '
We had tn the American Peace com
mission, of course, a group of experts
who bad all this background information
Instantly available. I discussed ! with
Mr. Lansing and Colonel House,' and
finally "with, the president.' the advisa
bility of securing access of correspond
ents to these sources, but the problem
presented many difficulties. The experts
were busily engaged in the work of their
commissions, and the- task of going over
the same .ground with scores of. corre
spondents was formidable.
I suggested, therefore, that as the
Various problems arose we should pre
pare under the direction of, the Press
bureau, a statement ef the historical.
geographical and political elements In.
volved In It by conference with the ex
pert ot the commission, this to be put
out for use by the -newspaper corre
spondents. This was at first . strongly
opposed by , Mr. Lansing . because he
thought that such statements might In
volve us in diplomatic difficulties, tfmvl
I took It up wltu President Wilson and
explained to him, that-It was our intent
to make a wholly unbiased statement of
the facta, and that this would be of the
greatest -: value . to the correspondents.
He at once approved the idea. Our first
statement was on Poland and was writ
ten by Dr. R; H. Lord of Harvard, who
waa the .American expert on that sub
ject. : It was welcomed by the newspaper
correspondents and even sent Over by
certain of them in full. This was the
first of a long series ot such statements.
Not one of them (put out by our bureau)
waa In any way " propagandist, i ' They
were prepared solely for. the information
of correspondents. - --,-ii-.-... . -. -.
LASrSIXG "JfEWSLESS" ' .
So much for the formal " machinery
The other source of Information for cor
respondents suggested by the president
dally access to the, commissioners
proved In the. beginning quite useful.
Mr. Lansing was- then ' sitting ta the
Council ot Ten. and for a time all four
of the commissioners. Including' Colonel
House. Mr. White and General Bliss,
received the correspondents,' and the
gathering of from 20 to SO- correspondents
every morning in Secretary Lansing's
large room la the Crillon hotel, was one
of the notable events of the day. Grad
ually. , however, ' the attendance", of the
commissioners dwindled away. r Both
General Bliss and Colonel House ceased
appearing, and during all the latter part
the conference . the correspondents
were received by Secretary I .a ruing, or
Mr. White, aad the meetings yielded
very little real news they were Indeed
farcical although -the discussions- that
the . correspondents . often - Indulged tn
were of some value rv Although . Mr.
Lansing in his book on the peace" con
ference, comments on the want of pub
licity at Paris, he was In practice one
of the most difficult of men to approach,
and, in connection with tha commissions
in which he was - himself directly en
gaged, was the least communicative of
any of the commissioners.
Another source ot Information and
discussion was the smaller gatherings of
newspaper men who, during the latter
part " of the . conference, met Colonel
House - every day. . . Colonel House was
not only more closely in touch with the
president, than any of the other- com
missioners, but ha had a genius for. hu
man contact and waa constantly meeting
the representative men from other dele
gations : and i. receiving . visitors from
America who sought through him to
reach the president, so that his' confer
ences were always interesting, though,
during the Utter part of the peace con
ference, yielding little -real news of what
waa gomg" on In the council ' of - four
for, upon these things Colonel House
was almost aa little Informed. as the
Other commissioners. '" 5i 1 -
For a time the American correspon
dents were also received by members of
foreign delegations, like Mr. BalfouT
and Lord Robert Cecil among the Brit
ish, and M. . Plchon- among the French,
and their own widening - acquaintance
and familiarity with conditions opened
still further avenues of information.
After- the president - returned from
America In March and the council of
tour was instituted, access to the really
important Information aa to what the
needs or states were doing became still
further blocked. A sharp protest arose
among the press over this state of af
fairs. The- writer tooS" up the subject
with the president and urged that some
channel of - regular ' information ' be
opened, and It was finally arranged that
i go up to nis nouse. where the council
of four waa meeting, every day at
o'clock, and. this practice, once begun.
continued to the end .of the conference.
i arrived usually fust as the other mem
bers of the council of four Were depart
BIO POUR AFTER BATTLE '
I have a vivid' picture of Lloyd George
coming out of the president's study,
wiw nut neaa thrown back-and his gray
bair ruffled with, the excitement of the
discussion, talking and often joking with
Sir Marcus Hankey, who followed, with
his document file. ,- Then . would come
Orlando with his secretary,' M. vAldro
vandi. and,, usually last of all, Clemen-
ceau. a little bent forward, .his stocky
iigure tn his long blade coat, making
an impressive; figure of solidity . and
power. - With htm came M. Mantoux. bis
secretary- and interpreter. I would or
dinarily find .tha president in hia study.
looking very weary, gathering' t the
papers ot the day and putting them aside
in u steei aocument box. , Sometimes
we. would talk there to the study; and
sometimes cross the hall to Mrs. Wil
son's' dra win- room,-which was always
M?gnt with flowers; and. tha president
wouia go over the events of the day
and afterward decide on what should be
maae public. - There were days and days
of endless controversy over such' sub
jects as - reparation, the disposition of
the . saare valley, the Polish Question.
with absolutely -no decisions arrived at
and with nothing of aalient news value
to report. . . - - - -r r.-i
following this conference ! with the
president I returned at ' once to the
office of the press bureau' and reported
to the correspondents everything- that
the president had authorized me to give
out. - Occasionally this ' news was
great Importance, as on the day on
which the . Shantung decision was an
nounced, .but ordinarily the report was
disappointing, because- the proceedings
of the four, were disappointing and in
conclusive. . - ,-.".--- .i - ,
The more I saw of the peace confer
ence the more I appreciated the diffi
culties which beset both the president
and the American delegates generally in
the matter of publicity. Conditions were
so complicated and ' the- Interests and ,
fears of the other nationalities were so -acute
aa to make the problem of pub- .
liclty- an extremely delicate one. " -DrPFICULTIES
GALORE
The ' writer had ' an illuminating '. ex-
perlence with this as a member of the
press committee appointed -on April . I
to handle' the publicity for the supreme
economic council' '-''
xur committee consisted of four repre
sentatives, one each from -Great Britain,
the United States. France and Italy, All
ot the minutes and other Information re.
tatlng to the action of the supreme eco
nomic -council came . Into our hands.
When tha writer waa appointed, he re
garded It as a great opportunity to get
out more, real information : on these
Important subjects to the American pub- .
Ilcj but from the very beginning a if- .
ficultlee of every kind arose. Important
actions of the supreme economic coun
cil, like plana tor feeding the starving
Austrlans, came up. It seemed to me
that this waa most Interesting and Im
portant news to transmit to America,
helpful in building up the new feeling of
cooperation and friendliness on 1 which
peace must rest, but I found at once
strong and not unreasonable objection
from the Italians, supported by the
French, ; The Italians feared the effect
en their own publie opinion ot the news -
that the Austriana were being fed while
their -own people were In manr cases
close to the point of suffering. The
tenaency waa all la the ' direction of
considering the effect of the news, not
Its value aa Information, and In those
times or turmoil, i with war still in
the air. the effect might be most Im
portant. ... , ;. . . i
Sometimes - there ' were real ' military
considerations Involved," oftener diplo
matic,, or political- eonslderatlona. In "
any : event, we ' usually parted, after
hours of more or -less fruitless discus
sion, with, a report exceedingly reneral'
and vague In Its terms. . - . .
Witt was to be done? If the Ameri
can on the committee wera ta stand ah.
eolutely on his own -principle of full
publicity, either one of two things would
happen: First, the committee would be
discontinued. . for the attitudes ot the
representatives there were fully support,
ed by the men behind them on the .su
preme economic council: or. - aamnii
the American representative would have
to resign and some other method of
publicity be devised. v And In a confer
ence of. nations, the fundamental pur
pose ot which waa to come to aa agree
, w aei up a machinery for fu
ture agreement.- could - env nn, miu.
force Its policy Upon the others? Must
r e no give.and aket Was It not
better to remain on tha com ml ft fta-
stantly urging the American point of
view and endeavorins- tn -a an rv- ,,v.
liclty possible? t It waa thus, in tht.
minute sphere of activity, that the prob
lem that .confronted tha president, as
well as all the other Americans at
Paris, , waa clearly . illustrated. In this V
particular case the writer remained
upon tha committee and did the best he
aouia to gei eu me publicity possible.
."L"' of eoar- to criticize the
publicity methods at Paris, but the f ail-
ora.! k waa raiiure, was highly com
plicated. It must not be forgotten that
the war was still only halted by a truce,
and, that many little conflicts, which
might easily become greater, were going
on al! over Europe.- War la secretive.
and the fear and greed which Ue behind
w" are secretive. The old diplomacy,
with its tenacious traditions, was secre
tive, and the nations ware entangled In
a mesh ot secret treaties. . For over four
years the press had been strangled with
a rigid censorship. It was a new thing
for publics to be represented at such
conferences at all; there were no stand
arda. no technique. -To ask complete
frankness at that time was to ask that
the world atop Instantly being f earful,
greedy,' revengeful .-.'-
- The struggle for publicity was thus a
part of the struggle out of war Into
peace, out of the traditions of the old
diplomacy Into new methods, out of the ,
conception of International dealings as -the
concern of a few autocratic heads of,
states toward a new conception of in
ternational dealings as the business of
the people. .
The attack went on from the outside,
aa 1 show In this chapter; It also went
on- within the secret councils of the Ten -and
the Four, as I shall show in the
following chapter. --
To Be Continued Next Sunday.
Hiram Johnson
Anonymous
jruhOaaad aa4 CaoyrKMaa a U. T. Peteaa-s
- Snaa. Alt KJshta Kanrrae ay tlattrd ra.
- uwa ByMtraia tuprodacttoa rroaihitad.)
HIRAif JOHNSON would have en
joyed the French revolution, if acci
dent had made him radical at that time,
lie would have been stirred by the ris
ing of the people he would have gtvea
tongue to their grievances in a voice
keyed to lash them to greater fury. He
would nave been excited by It aa he nev
er has bn by the little -risings of the
vnassea which he has made vocal In all
the noisy early phases) of It, be would
have made the loudest noise. And he
would have gone to tha block when the
real business ef the- revolution began
with the f anaUoa at Its helm.
Ia tha Russian revolution, ba would
r.sv beea a Ktrensky ; aad he would
fled when the true - believers In
change , errtvad. He la the orator of
emautes. who U fascinated by a mulu-
tuoin a passion. '
Johnson la not a revolutionary. Not
li- the t. not any snore than Henry
i aoot unat i a. nut revolution has a
f erce attraction for him. He once said
to me, sneaking bitterly during the cam-
paij of Mr. Harding's prospective elec
tion. "The war has set back the people
for a generation. They have bowed to
a hundred repressed acta. They have be
come slaves to the government. They
are frightened at the excesses in Rus
sia. They are docile ; and they will not
recover from being so for many years.
The Interests which control the Republi
can party will make the most of their
docility.'-Xa the end, of course, r there
will be a revolution, but it ' win not
ccme la my time.",. ; I -1 i :
' That "It will not' come In my time"
waa said In a tone of regret, It was not
so much that the senator wanted revo
lution. I do not believe he did. But he
wanted his chance, that outburst of pop
ular resentment which would bring htm
to the front, with the excitement, the
sense of power that would come from
the response ef the nation when bis an
gry voice translated into words its ele
mental passion.
i Turbulent popular reeling Is breath In
Johnson's nostrils. ' Twice he haa thor-
ovaniy enjoyed Its Intoxication. .-
His political life was blank paper when
the tumult of popular Indignation swept
v-aiuorma an tne ume Francis J. Henev.
I whotwas prosecuting the San Francisco
grafters, waa shot in tha court room. He
had thought nothing politically, be had
felt nothing politically. . He had neither
convictions, nor passions,? nor morals,
politically , speaking. He grew up In
soil which does not produce lofty standards.-
Something of the mining-camp
spirit still hung over California,? which
had been settled by adventurers, forty
niners, gold seekers, men who had left
the east to "make new start" where
there waa pay dirt, v The state had a
wild seat for life which waa an trammel
ed by Puritanism. San Francisco had
Its Barbary Coast and in every restaur
ant its private dining rooms for women.
Johnson - himself - waa sprung from a.
father who was a "raltroad lawyer.1 the
agent of privilege in procuring Special
favors, by methoda once -well- known.
from the state legislature. The atmos
phere of hia youth was not. one to de
velop a sensitive conscience or a high
conception ox puouo soorahk
t a -
Johnson at this time was a practicing
attorney, not noted for the quality of his
community service. ; The administration
of San Francisco had been a scandal for
years. Few cared. It was a "corrupt
3
' HIRAM JOHNSON
..Senator: born Sacramento, CaL, September 2, 1868 ; educated University of
California, leaving in junior year; began as sflorthand .reporter ; studied law
In father's office ; admitted to California bar, 18Ss ; member staff of prosecut
ing attorney in Doodling eases, involving leading city officials and almost all
public utility corporations: in San Francisco, 1906-7 i was selected to take the
place of Francis J. Heney, after latter was shot down in court while prosecut
ing Abe Ruef for bribery ,' 1908, and secured conviction of Ruef ; governor of
California, 1911-1915; reelected for term, 191,5-19; (resigned March la, 1917) ; a
founder of Progressive party, 1912. and nominee for vio president of United
States on Progressive ticket, same year ;. United States senator from California
for term 1917-23. .- ' y- , , . . -, .... .. ... . . -. . , .. -
and contented" '-; city. The corruption
grew worse. Lower and meaner graft-1
era rose to take the place of the earlier
and more robust good fellows who traf
ficked In the city o shame. - It waa ul
timately exposed in all its shocking in
decency. The light and licentious town
developed a conscience. Public Indigna
tion arose and reached its height, when
the grafters ventured too far In the
shooting of the attorney charged with
their prosecution, ' t '
-Johnson then ' felt for- the Erst time
something be had , never felt before
the stirring of the storm of angry pop
ular feeling. v It woke something in him,
something that he did not know exNtad
. -:-.'. ' ' '---jit-' . --.-:'V; - y-.c.,:----f
Lefore -his Instanct for the expression of
public passion; hia love of the platform
with yelling multitudes In front of him.
. He threw himself into the fray on the
side of clyic. virtue. - The disturbance to
the complacency; of Ban Francisco dis
turbed the complacency of the state,
whichi had calmly endured misgovern
ment , for many years. Mlsgovernment
procured by the railroad, the public
utility ' corporations, the other combina
tions of wealth, through their agents, and
through the corrupt ' politician. John
son became ' the spokesman of . public
protest and the reform governor of the
state. '. . . ; 1 . -
'After that fm feajtlia far tk JdJ
at Armageddon the' moat Intoxicating:
experience In American political history,:
for a- man 'of Johnson's temperament.;
It waa a revolution, not in a government,
but In a party. Bonds were loosed. Im
mense personal enlargement came . to
those , who had known the ties of reg
ularity. It waa an hour of freedom, un
bridled political . passion, ' unrestrained
political utterance. Docility did-not ex
ist. Van crowds thrilled with new hopes
yelled themselves hoarse over angry
words.. - fv- :v i ' - .
-: Association with Roosevelt on the Pro
gressive ticket lifted Johnson from a
local to a national importance. The whole
country was the audience, which leaped
at hia words. ; It was a revolution In
tattle, -a taste, a sample of what the
real thing would be, with its breaking of
restraints. Its making of the mob a per
fect instrument to - play upon. Its un
leashing of passion to which to give
tongue. Johnson haa felt Its wild stim
ulation and like a maa who' haa used
arugs uio nami is opoa mia- - -Moreover,
bis one chance lies that way.
I have said , that he is by accident,
radical. Let us imagine a great out
burst of popular passion tor reaction,
a imwM. Jw jiHnsoQ was.- when it
arrived,-a political blank, as he was
when Heney was shou .-. Johnson would
have raised - nis . angry voice against
radicalism, just as readily as for it.
The essential thing with him Is popular
passion, not a political philosophy. He
has bo real convictions. . He . does not
reason or think deeply. Jlls mentality
is slight. '- Ha is the voice of many ; in
stinctively, he jives tongue to what, the
many ieeu mat m an.-; - 1 - - . "
. Suppose the strong-lunged Calif ornlan
were a political .blanks ist reaching the
national consciousness, mtur ae reaction
against Wilson began and whed the pub
lic -swung to conservatism. . at V, .--
. ; , - .'f . . -' '"
Tou know those vast tin amplifiers em
ployed tn big convention halls, or In out-
of-door meetings, to carry the voice of
the speaker to the remotest depths of the
audience : Johnson is a vast tin amplifier
of the voice of the mass. When the peo
ple had become "docile" be'. would have
thundered . "docility" ' to the uttermost
bounds of the universe, it he had not by
far early utterances been definitely
placed on the side opposed to docility. -
But he had been definitely placed' In
the battle of Armageddon. . A thousand
ennuiea located him - for all political
time.. No convictions hold him where he ;
Is in case there be profit tn changing
sides ; other men habitually conservative
wouia nave tha preference over him on
the other side.. In this sense ha la aa-
cidently radical, accldently because bo
nappen eu to emerge tn politics at a
radical moment. That takes Into account
only the mental background ef hia
political position. . There Is aa element
that was not chance. PnhUa naasion is
almost Invariably. radical. springing as It
does from the resentment of Inequality,
and Johnson Is the tongue ot oublic pas
sion. ; - .- - -
1c he dangerous T He Is, only t? nli
passw became dangerous and only op
to the point where the speakers of rev
olution , pass freer 1a stage and the
doers of It rig up their chopping block..
At present he furnishes the words, the
ngly words, which men throw instead
' f stones at the object of their hate.
He Is the safety-valve of gathering pas
sion. Men listen to him and feel that
they, have done something to vindicate
their rights. They applaud him to shake
the roof, and vote for Mr. Harding. .
.. It ia customary to speak, cf his ica?-
. i (CoactBded m Pas Twa, Ootama Jlva) .