Cary T. Grayson Diary

Cary T. Grayson Diary

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

WWP17204

1919 June 22

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

English

The President slept quite late this morning. I received a letter from Clemenceau enclosing a communication that the French had received from the German delegates at Versailles, and I took it to the President in his room. This note was signed by the German Premier and declared that Germany was prepared to accept the treaty in full if the Allied governments would eliminate from it the demand that the Kaiser and other German officials should be handed over for trial for their violations of international law, and also that the Allies eliminate from the treaty the admission by Germany that she actually was entirely responsible for the war. The President read the note and said to me: “Germany does not want to accept responsibility for the war alone. We do not charge Germany alone. It is Germany and her allies.” He made this remark while in the hall in the presence of Mr. Bainbridge Colby and Mr. Charles H. Grasty, who had come to see me.

The President took only a short ride today. He was expecting communications from Lloyd George and Clemenceau concerning the German situation. At three o’clock he left the house for a ride through the Park, and at five o’clock he went to Lloyd George’s house. Clemenceau had preceded him. The meeting was held in Lloyd George’s apartment because of his illness. This meeting lasted until 8:30, causing the President to be an hour and a half late for dinner. He ate his dinner in a hurry and returned to Lloyd George’s for a meeting at 9:00 o’clock. I accompanied him. While at this meeting the President preparfed the reply of the Council to the latest German request, which reply was afterwards signed by Clemenceau as Chairman of the Peace Conference and forwarded directly to Von Haniel at Versailles. The President dictated this statement to Lloyd George’s secretary. It was afterwards sent over to the temporary White House, and the President on discovering several typographical errors made the corrections in pencil and turned it over to me to give out to the newspapers through the press bureau. The reply was as follows:

Diary