Cary T. Grayson Diary

Title

Cary T. Grayson Diary

Creator

Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938

Identifier

WWP17110

Date

1919 March 20

Source

Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia

Language

English

Text

While I was treating the President this morning, the subject of trusts came up, and the President asked me if I had ever heard the late Tom Reed’s (of Maine) definition of what a trust really was. I had not, and the President said: “A trust, Reed said, was a small body of very rich men surrounded by a large number of very able lawyers.”

The condition he had been suffering from has yielded very fully to treatment and all pain has disappeared. The President is not now suffering any inconvenience and, as he expressed it today, except when he pressed on the point he could not feel any twinges of pain.

The President, Clemenceau and Lloyd-George again conferred at Lloyd-George)’s home in the Rue Nitot. One of the subjects that was taken up was the question of Syria, where England and France have clashed so far as the predominance in trade was concerned. Lloyd-George made it plain that so far as he was concerned, he was very anxious that all the British forces now in Palestine be removed and brought home as quickly as possible, and he also said that in no case would Great Britain accept a mandate for either Syria or Armenia. The President took no part in deciding this question, which he held was one for France and England to dispose of between themselves.

While the President was conferring with the two Premiers, representatives of th thirteen neutral countries met with Lord Robert Cecil, Leon Bourgeois of France, M. Hymans of Belgium, Venizelos of Greece, and M. Pashich of Servia, in Colonel House’s rooms in the Hotel Crillon. The neutrals had been called in to make suggestions from their viewpoint of amendments to the constitution of the League of Nations, and they managed to get through two-thirds of the constitution before the conference broke up. A rather clever trick had been worked in dealing with the neutrals by getting them altogether instead of permitting them to come in and individually present their views. This expedited matters very much, and the fact that outside of Colonel House and Lord Robert Cecil the other members of the sub-committee were more or less obstructionists, helped out to a great extent, inasmuch as they found themselves compelled to be listeners instead of in their usual role of talkers. It was apparent that the neutrals were fully convinced that the League of Nations is to be a permanent institution, this being proven by the fact that Holland asked for the establishment of permanent headquarters sfor the League at the Hague, Switzerland asked for it for Geneva, and several of the other envoys said they would be very glad to welcome the League to their shores.

Tonight the President and I after dinner went for a walk, which lasted for an hour. It was raining but with umbrellas, over-shoes, and overcoats it was possible to get exercises, which the President needed very badly to counteract the strain of the hard work he is doing. We walked all through the crowds of Paris but no one recognized him.

Original Format

Diary

Files

http://resources.presidentwilson.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/PCST19190320.pdf

Citation

Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938, “Cary T. Grayson Diary,” 1919 March 20, WWP17110, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.