proposals which resulted in the armistice
which went into effect on November 11, 1918.

In view of the importance of the conditions of the armistice with
Germany and their relation to the terms of peace to be later negotiated,
the President considered it essential to have an American member added
to the Supreme War Council, which then consisted of M. Clemenceau, Mr.
Lloyd George, and Signor Orlando, the premiers of the three Allied
Powers. He selected Colonel Edward M. House for this important post and
named him a Special Commissioner to represent him personally. Colonel
House with a corps of secretaries and assistants sailed from New York on
October 17, _en route_ for Paris where the Supreme War Council was
in session.

Three days before his departure the Colonel was in Washington and we had
two long conferences with the President regarding the correspondence
with Germany and with the Allies relating to a cessation of hostilities,
during which we discussed the position which the United States should
take as to the terms of the armistice and the bases of peace which
should be incorporated in the document.

It was after one of these conferences that Colonel House informed me
that the President had decided to name him (the Colonel) and me as two
of the American plenipotentiaries to the Peace Conference, and that the
President was considering attending the Conference and in person
directing the negotiations. This latter intention of Mr. Wilson
surprised and disturbed me, and I expressed the hope that the
President's mind was not made up, as I believed that if he gave more
consideration to the project he would abandon it, since it was manifest
that his influence over the negotiations would be much greater if he
remained in Washington and issued instructions to his representatives in
the Conference. Colonel House did not say that he agreed with my
judgment in this matter, though he did not openly disagree with it.
However, I drew the conclusion, though without actual knowledge, that he
approved of the President's purpose, and, possibly, had encouraged him
to become an actual participant in the preliminary conferences.

The President's idea of attending the Peace Conference was not a new
one. Though I cannot recollect the source of my information, I know that
in December, 1916, when it will be remembered Mr. Wilson was endeavoring
to induce the belligerents to state their objects in the war and to
enter into a conference