MY DEAR COL. HOUSE: Since you kindly lent me the text of the
proposed treaty of peace, I have tried to convince myself
that some good might come of it and that I ought to remain
in the service of the Department of State to labor for its
establishment.
It is with sincere regret that I have come to the conviction
that no good ever will issue from a thing so evil and that
those who care about a permanent peace should oppose the
signature and ratification of it, and of the special
understanding with France.
I have therefore submitted my resignation to the Secretary
of State and have written the appended note to the
President. I hope you will bring it to his attention; not
because he will care what I may think, but because I have
expressed the thoughts which are in the minds of many young
and old men in the commission--thoughts which the President
will have to reckon with when the world begins to reap the
crop of wars the seeds of which have here been sown.
I feel sure that you will agree that I am right in acting on
my conviction and I hope that this action will in no way
affect the relationship between us which has always been so
delightful and stimulating to me.
With my sincerest personal regards, I am, Very respectfully,
yours,
WILLIAM C. BULLITT.
To the honorable EDWARD M. HOUSE,
Hotel Crillon, Paris.
Senator KNOX. Did you get a reply to that?
Mr. BULLITT. Col. House sent for me, and after that we had a
conversation. That was the only reply that I had. I had a conversation
with Col. House on the whole matter, and we thrashed it all out.
Senator KNOX. Was anything said during this conversation which you
feel willing or disposed to tell us, which will be important?
Mr. BULLITT. I made a record of the conversation. Inasmuch as the
conversations which I had with various members of the commission on
the occasion of my resignation touched on a number of important
issues, I kept a record of those conversations, that is, those I had
at the time when I resigned. They are the only conversations of which
I made records, and I made them simply because we did deal more or
less with the entire question of the peace treaty. On the other hand,
they are personal conversations, and I hesitate to repeat them, unless
the committee considers it particularly important.
Senator K
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