MR. BULLITT'S AMAZING STORY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 52, 25 November 1919, Page 5

MR. BULLITT'S AMAZING STORY

THE PEACE OFFE?, TO THE RED SOVIET AND MB. LLOYD GEORGE'S DENIAL [A short reference to the dispute between Jlr. Williiim Bullitt, o[' tho American Peace Delegation, mid Jlr. J.loyil George on certain questions of fact concerning pence negotiations with tho Russian bolshevik Government appeared in Tjik Dominion recently. The English mail, which arrived yesterdav, brought fuller details of what appears to be a perfectly amazing story.] "I ! have secured an official copy of Kie evidence,tvhich Jlr. William Bullitt gftvo before the Foreign Relations Committee of iho Senate concerning the proposal to leieivo a Bolshevik peace delegation at Prinkipo, in the Sea of Marmora," says the "Daily Hail's" New York correspondent. "It consists of a papercovered volume of 150 pages of close print, and contains, besides Mr. Bullitt's evidsnce, 32 '"exhibits' in the shape of documents produced by Mr. Bullitt in tho course of his testimony. 4 How He Went to Paris. "In the early pr.rt of his statement Mr. Bullitt describes how ha went to Paris with tihe President in the George Washington on the occasion of President Wilson's first trip. His work on the American Commission was to take charge of tiho confidential bulletin which was to bo produced each morning for tilie benefit, of the commissioners. Later a Current Intelligence Section was formed which he took over.

"As head of this section he received all military intelligence reports of t/he State Department o£ Intelligence through Ambassadors' special dispatdhes. His official designation was 'Chief of the Division, of Current Intelligence Summaries.' "The first part of his evidenco dealt with the inception and various other dotails of tile League of Nations. Coming to the Russian question, he told tho committee: " 'Tho very day tftat Colonel House and Mr. Lansing first asked me to undertake this mission to Russia I was dining at Mr. Lloyd George's apartment and discussing Russian affairs with his secretaries.'' A Talk With Colonel House, "Before he went ho find a conversation with Colonel House. 'I think it might bo an important detail to give a brief resume of this conversation,' Jlr. Bullitt continued. 'Tho, idea ivas this: Mr. Lloyd George had gone to London on February 9, as I remember, to try to adjust somo labour troubles. He, however, still insisted that the Prinkipo proposal must bo renewed or some other peace proposal must be made. I arranged a meeting between him and Colonel House, which was to take I believe, on February 21, at) which they were to prepare a renewal of the Prinkipo proposal, and llhey were both prepared to insist that it be passed against any opposition of the French.' "Owing to tihe shooting of JI. Clemenceau, Sir, Lloyd George, according to Mr. Bullitt, talephoned from • London, saying it would bo useless for him or Colonel House to attempt to renew the Prinkipo puoposal so long as M. Clemenceau was ill. "'Therefore,' Mr. Bullitfi told tho committee, 'it decided that I should go at onco to Russia and attempt to obtain from tlho Soviet Government an exact statement of the terms on which they were ready to stop fighting. The plan was to make a proposal to the Soviet Government which would certainly be accepted.' He Goes to Russia. " 'Theso orders came to me from Colonel House. I further had an inti. mation of tlho British disposition towards Russia. As I said before, I hart discussed the matter with Mr. Philip Kerr, and Sir Maurice Hankey, and Colonel House ousted mo to inform Mr. ICerr of my mission before I went.'

" 'It was to be an entire secret from all except tho British. I told Air. lverr all about it and asked him if he could get Mr. Balfour and Air. Lloyd Georjjt to givo me a general indication of tliier point of view on peace with _ Russia— what they would be prepared' to do in the mattor.'

'"Kerr and I then propared what wo thought mighl) be a basis of peace with Hussia. 1 then received from Kerr, before I left, the following letter, which I greatly regret to bring forward, but which I feel to bo necessary in the interests of an understanding on this matter.'

"Thig 'letter said: 'I enclose a note of' the sort of conditions npon which I pernonally think it would 'bo possiblo for the Allied Governments to resumo onco ■mai/j normal relations with Soviet Russia. You'll understand, of course, that those have no official significance and merely represent suggestions of my own opinion,' Mr. Bullitt then described what he did in llussia and remarked that the British Government had a man there at the same time. 'He was travelling as a Bed Cross representative,' ho said, 'but in reality ho was thero for the Foreign Office, a Major A, 11. Parker, I believe.' " 'I also sent a telegram to' Colonel ITouso asking him to show my fifth and sixth telegrams to Mr. Philip Kerr, so that Mr. Lloyd George might bo informed in regard to the situation, inasmuch os ho knew I was going and inasmuch as the British had been so courteous as to offer to send me across in a cruiser.'

"'W'hen I got to London I found that tho torpedo-boat in which I expected to go was escorting the Pres'dent. Mr. Lloyd George's office in London called up tho Admiralty and asked them to givo nie a boat. Incidentally, I was informed by Colonel House on my arrival'in Paris that copies of mv telegrams had been Bent nt once to Sir. Lloyd George and Mr. Balfour.' Breakfast with the Prime Minister. "'lmmediately on my return,' Mr. Builift went on, 'I first asked to appear before the American Commission. The night I got back I had a couple of lioura with Colonel House, in which wo went over the wholo matter. \ " 'Next morning I had breakfast with Mr. Lloyd George at his apartment. Genera.! Smuts, Sir Qbinrice Hankey,.and Air. Fhibp Kerr were also present, and wo discussed the matter at considerable length. I brought irr. Lloyd George the official text of the Soviet proposal, lie had previously read it. as it had beon telegraphed from Helsingfors. Ho merely glanced over it and raid, "Tint is the some one T have already read." Ho handed it to Smuts and said, "General, th ; s is of tho utmost importance and interest, i'ou ought to read it Tight away." Smuts read it immediately, and said lie thought it ought not to bo allowed to lapse, and that it was of the utmost im'virtnice. The Prime Minister and the Press. " 'Mr. Lloyd George, however, said ho did not know what he could do with British public opinion, tie. had a copy of tho "Daily Mail" in his hand, and said, "As long as tho .Briiisu rrtss is doing thin kind of thing, how can you expect mo to bo sensible about Hussia?'' " Tho "Daily Mai!," added Mr. liullitt, 'was roaring and screaming about tho wholo Russian situation. Then Mr. Lloyd George said: "Of course, all reports wo get from people we send there are in this same general direction, but we hflvo got to send in somebody who is known to the whole world as a complete Conservative in order to have tho wholo world bc-lievo the report ho brings to bo not simply tho utterance of a Radical. I wonder if we could get Lansdowno to go?" "'Then 'ho immediately corrected himself and sniii: "jSu; ii would probably kill him." Then lie said: "I wish I could send Bob Cecil (Lord Robert Cecil), but wo have got to keep him for tho 1/eaguo of Nations." He said to General Smuts: "Jt would be splendid if you could go, but, of course, you have got another job." " 'Afterwards Air. Lloyd George said he thought the most desirable man to send was the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Robert Cecil's brother, that he would bo respectable enough ami well-known enough, so that when lie came back and niado t'lio same report it would go down with lSrilisli public opinion.

" '.Mr. Lloyd ijHii'p then urgpil me to make public my rc-pin-l, and said it wns nbsolutely iiMiessu'.vto havo publicity girai lu the actual conditions in Jiuasia, which ho recognised woro as re-

"Mr. Bullitt noxt described how lie prepared <i stuti'inont for puhliention which was suppressed by the President. It whs ol'!er this that Senator Knox isked Mr. Hullitt if Mr. Lloyd George, hod denied, in a speech to Parliament, that he had ever received Jlr. Hullitt s report." Prime Minister's Change of Front. "In reply, Jir. Bullitt said: 'About a week uiti-r I had handed Mr. Lloyd George the ollieial proposal with my o« r n hands' in the presence of three other persons, he made a speech before the British Parliament which pive the liritisii people to understand lie knew nothins whatever about any such proposition. It is tile most egregious caso of misleading tho public, perhaps the boldest, that I have ever known in my life. Oil tho occasion of that statement by Jlr. Lloyd George, I wrote 'to the President. I clipped the stator meut from a newspaper and sent it to tho President, and asked him to inform me whether that statement of Mr. Lloyd George was true or untrue. " 'He was unable to answer, inasmuch ao it would have been a reply on paper that Jlr. Lloyd George had made tin untruo statement. " 'So flagrant mw this that various members of tho British Mission called on mo at tho Hotel Crillon a day or so later and apologised for the Prime Minister's action in the case. " 'It was explained to me by members of the British Delegation who called that tho reason for this deception was that, although when Jfr. Lloyd G&rge got back to London he intended to make a statement very favourable to pea.ee with Russia, ho found that Lord Northctilfe, acting through Jfr. Wiekhnm Steed, editor of "The Times, and Jtr. Winston Churchill, tho British Secretary of lVar, had rigged a Conservative majority in the House of Commons against him, and that they were ready to slay him then and there if he attempted to speak his own opinion at the moment on the Russian policies.