Paris Peace Conf. 184.00101/161
Minutes of the Meetings of the Commissioners Plenipotentiary, October 8, 1919, 11 a.m.
- Present:
- Mr. Polk
- Mr. White
- General Bliss
- Mr. Harrison
I. Mr. Polk read a telegram which he proposed to send to the Secretary of State with regard to the question of furnishing supplies, ammunition and rolling stock for the Polish Army. He also [Page 446] read a telegram which he was sending to the Secretary of State relative to the question of closing up the Commission and with regard to the various matters which might be turned over to the Embassy.
The Commissioners discussed briefly the situation in the Baltic Provinces and the nature of the reply to be made to the last German note. Mr. Polk directed the Secretary to endeavor to obtain a copy of the draft to be presented to the Supreme Council at the next meeting by Marshal Foch, in order that he might have time to examine it before the meeting.
Mr. Polk explained the nature of the telegram which he had sent to Mr. Dodge at Belgrade with regard to the settlement of the Fiume question. He had informed Mr. Dodge that the President’s suggestion with regard to a buffer state included a provision whereby the inhabitants of the state, should they so desire, might make an appeal to the League of Nations for permission to hold a plebiscite. Mr. Dodge could therefore state to the Serbian Government that the ultimate disposition of the territory was left to the League of Nations. Mr. Dodge had also been instructed to volunteer the information to the Serbian Government orally that it was not for them to place any obstacle in the way of a settlement of the Fiume question, in view of the attitude of the President throughout the negotiations.
II. The Commissioners took note of a report submitted by Commander McLean, U. S. N., under date of October 2, with regard to the Medical Dispensary attached to the Commission, and the fact that Captain Whitmore, U. S. A., who has been attached to the Commission since September 1, 1919, would be in charge of the Dispensary after his departure. Departure of Commander McLean; Captain Whitmore in Charge of Medical Dispensary
III. Memorandum No. 584, with regard to a letter addressed to Mr. Clemenceau by the Austrian Peace Delegation regarding the danger of Jugo-Slav aggression in the Klagenfurt district in case of evacuation by the Italians was read. The Commission approved the first paragraph of the recommendation submitted in the memorandum under reference, to the effect that a copy of the letter in question be sent to the American Legation at Belgrade with instructions to bring the matter informally to the attention of the Jugo-Slav Government, expressing the unfortunate impression which would be created by any violation of the terms of the Treaty of Peace. Danger of Jugo-Slav Aggression in Klagenfurt District
The suggestion contained in the second paragraph of the recommendation in question was disapproved.
[Page 447]IV. The Commissioners approved the recommendation contained in Memorandum No. 585 to the effect that quarters and office space should not be provided in the Hotel Crillon for the members of General Harbord’s Mission, but that if possible they be accommodated at 45 Avenue Montaigne. Quarters for General Harbord’s Mission
V. The Secretary read a confidential report prepared by Mr. Leeper of the British Delegation, who accompanied Sir George Clerk to Bucharest, with regard to the situation in Roumania and the Roumanian policy towards Hungary. The Roumanian Situation
The Commissioners noted the report with interest.
VI. Mr. White called attention to and read certain extracts from a memorandum dated October 6th, submitted by Mr. W. H. Buckler regarding a conversation with Hain Nahum, Grand Rabbi of Turkey. The memorandum in question reads as follows: Views of Hain Nahum, Grand Rabbi of Turkey
“The Grand Rabbi, who has just arrived from Constantinople, emphasizes the importance of dealing immediately with the Turkish question and of not allowing it to be postponed for three or four months, as seems to be the present intention.
1. The dangers are (a) financial collapse of the Turkish Government and (b) increasing disorder in the interior of Asia Minor. The second of these is partly dependent on the first because the present poverty of the Turkish Government makes it impossible for them to keep an adequate gendarmerie.
The Government has hitherto maintained itself by selling large stocks of tobacco, wool and other materials acquired during the war. This source of ready money is now coming to an end, and there is practically no revenue owing to the fact that trade cannot revive and customs-duties depending on imports cannot be paid until peace is made. The comatose condition of the port of Smyrna and the impossibility of exporting the large surplus of this year’s magnificent harvest are examples of the general financial paralysis.
Unless something is done, the result will be that thousands of government employees, police officers, army officers, etc. will go unpaid, they and their families will be starving, and complete disorganization with disorder is certain to follow. Constantinople is full of Bolshevik agents, and, notwithstanding the lethargy of the Turk, the Rabbi believes that Bolshevik propaganda will take root among the thousands of starving government officials who will crowd Constantinople during the coming winter.
2. The Grand Rabbi regards international control of Turkey under the League of Nations for a considerable period as the only feasible solution. A provisional arrangement, he thinks, could be made for Armenia, subject to the transferring of that province to the United States under a mandate, should the United States be willing to accept it.
The cutting up of the Turkish Empire by a series of “surgical operation” would have been possible at the time of the Armistice but is impossible now, and no peace can be expected unless Anatolia is [Page 448] evacuated by Greeks and Italians. The movement under Mustafa Kemal is not aimed at Greek[s] or Armenians within the Ottoman Empire, on the contrary it appeals for their support. But it is aimed at stopping amputations from the Empire. It has an army of 40,000 good fighters capable of being largely increased, and it knows that the Allies will not send British, French or Italian soldiers to reconquer Turkey.
3. As to Smyrna, the Grand Rabbi (who expects to visit and to warn Venizelos) regards permanent Greek occupation as impossible but believes that local autonomy for Smyrna and its district, under a Greek governor but within the limits of the Empire, would work well and would be accepted by the Turks.
A prompt solution of the Smyrna question is urgently needed because the blocking of Turkey’s chief seaport is ruinous to the Nation’s finances, and because it stirs up revengeful bitterness even in the remotest corners of Anatolia.
4. If the Allied Powers will not discuss a permanent Turkish settlement until the American attitude on mandates is known, the Grand Rabbi thinks that a provisional regime should be agreed upon, under which the Turks would receive advances of money enabling them to pay current salaries and expenses, subject to some joint foreign control.
Unless immediate steps of this kind are taken by the Supreme Council, the Grand Rabbi regards increasing disorder and chaos in Turkey as inevitable.”