ch are presumably referred to in his letter of
February 11, 1920, extracts from which are quoted in the opening
chapter. The narration might be concluded with our difference of opinion
as to the Shantung Settlement, but in view of subsequent information
which the President received I am convinced that he felt that my
objections to his decisions in regard to the terms of the peace with
Germany extended further than he knew at the time, and that he resented
the fact that my mind did not go along with his as to these decisions.
This undoubtedly added to the reasons for his letter and possibly
influenced him to write as he did in February, 1920, even more than our
known divergence of judgment during the negotiations.

I do not feel, therefore, that the story is complete without at least a
brief reference to my views concerning the Treaty of Versailles at the
time of its delivery to the German delegates, which were imperfectly
disclosed in a statement made by William C. Bullitt on September 12,
1919, at a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign
Relations. As to the conduct of Mr. Bullitt, who had held a responsible
position with the American Commission at Paris, in voluntarily repeating
a conversation which was from its nature highly confidential, I make
no comment.

The portion of the statement, which I have no doubt deeply incensed the
President because it was published while he was in the West making his
appeals to the people in behalf of the Treaty and especially of the
League of Nations, is as follows:

"Mr. Lansing said that he, too, considered many parts of the Treaty
thoroughly bad, particularly those dealing with Shantung and the
League of Nations. He said: 'I consider that the League of Nations at
present is entirely useless. The Great Powers have simply gone ahead
and arranged the world to suit themselves. England and France have
gotten out of the Treaty everything that they wanted, and the League
of Nations can do nothing to alter any of the unjust clauses of the
Treaty except by unanimous consent of the members of the League, and
the Great Powers will never give their consent to changes in the
interests of weaker peoples.'

"We then talked about the possibility of ratification by the Senate.
Mr. Lansing said: 'I believe that if the Senate could only understand
what this Treaty means, and if the American people could really
understand, it would unquestio