Colonel House to Woodrow Wilson
Title
Colonel House to Woodrow Wilson
Creator
House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938
Identifier
WWP25160
Date
1918 September 3
Description
Allies should be brought into League of Nations proposals.
Source
Library of Congress, Woodrow Wilson Papers
Publisher
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum
Subject
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924--Correspondence
League of Nations
Contributor
Morgan Willer
Language
English
Provenance
Document scan was taken from Library of Congress microfilm reel of the Wilson Papers. WWPL volunteers transcribed the text.
Text
The President,
The White House, Washington.
Dear Governor:
Do you not think the time has come for you to consider whether it would not be wise to try to commit the Allies to some of the things for which we are fighting?
As the Allies succeed, your influence will diminish. This is inevitable. By the time of the Conference you will be nearing the end of your second term and this, too, will be something of a challenge to those, both at home and abroad, who have the will to oppose you. Therefore I believe that you should commit the Allies now to as much of your program as is possible. It is not probable that the personnel of the allied governments will be changed if things continue to go well, and you should count upon having to reckon with Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Sonninno and their kind.This would mean a hostile rather than a sympathetic membership.
While the liberals are largely with you at present, I have a feeling that you are not so strong among labor circles of either France or England as you were a few months ago. Such support, in the nature of things, is uncertain and erratic, and I do not believe will be steadfast or powerful enough to compell the reactionaries in authority to yield at the Peace Conference to American aims.
Could not a plan be thought out by which the Entente would be committed to certain things for which we stand and which are so essential, from our point of view, to the reconstruction of the world?
If the group I have mentioned come to the Congress flushed with victory, no appeal that you can make over their heads will be successful. In each country there will be men of vision and loftiness of purpose who will rally to your support, but they will be in the minority and their voices will be heard faintly by the great exultant throng intoxicated not alone by victory but by the thought of freedom from war.
If you read what Sir William Tyrrell said to Lippman in the recent letters I sent you, you will be interested in his argument for forming a League of Nations now. It is not what Tyrrell says that impresses me so much as the thought of what may be done at this time with a League of Nations and kindred things which may not be possible of accomplishment at the Peace Conference.
To agree with France, England, Italy and Japan upon the covenant for a League of Nations would not prevent its incorporation into the peace treaty. It would rather make it the more certain. The Central Powers could not object to a statement by the Allies as to a League of Nations and their conception of what it should be, and stating at the same time that they would propose its incorporation in the peace treaty.
If such a document as we have in mind should be accepted and made public, it could not have any but a good effect in the Central Powers and should shorten the war. If the covenant were published in agreement with England, France, Italy and Japan, there would be no opposition in this country worth mentioning.
If you are to take your Western trip, many things could be said in your speeches to clear the way for further action. I shall hope to be in Washington before you leave and to talk these things over in person.
With deep affection,
Devotedly yours,
EM House
Magnolia, Massachusetts.
The White House, Washington.
Dear Governor:
Do you not think the time has come for you to consider whether it would not be wise to try to commit the Allies to some of the things for which we are fighting?
As the Allies succeed, your influence will diminish. This is inevitable. By the time of the Conference you will be nearing the end of your second term and this, too, will be something of a challenge to those, both at home and abroad, who have the will to oppose you. Therefore I believe that you should commit the Allies now to as much of your program as is possible. It is not probable that the personnel of the allied governments will be changed if things continue to go well, and you should count upon having to reckon with Lloyd George, Clemenceau, Sonninno and their kind.This would mean a hostile rather than a sympathetic membership.
While the liberals are largely with you at present, I have a feeling that you are not so strong among labor circles of either France or England as you were a few months ago. Such support, in the nature of things, is uncertain and erratic, and I do not believe will be steadfast or powerful enough to compell the reactionaries in authority to yield at the Peace Conference to American aims.
Could not a plan be thought out by which the Entente would be committed to certain things for which we stand and which are so essential, from our point of view, to the reconstruction of the world?
If the group I have mentioned come to the Congress flushed with victory, no appeal that you can make over their heads will be successful. In each country there will be men of vision and loftiness of purpose who will rally to your support, but they will be in the minority and their voices will be heard faintly by the great exultant throng intoxicated not alone by victory but by the thought of freedom from war.
If you read what Sir William Tyrrell said to Lippman in the recent letters I sent you, you will be interested in his argument for forming a League of Nations now. It is not what Tyrrell says that impresses me so much as the thought of what may be done at this time with a League of Nations and kindred things which may not be possible of accomplishment at the Peace Conference.
To agree with France, England, Italy and Japan upon the covenant for a League of Nations would not prevent its incorporation into the peace treaty. It would rather make it the more certain. The Central Powers could not object to a statement by the Allies as to a League of Nations and their conception of what it should be, and stating at the same time that they would propose its incorporation in the peace treaty.
If such a document as we have in mind should be accepted and made public, it could not have any but a good effect in the Central Powers and should shorten the war. If the covenant were published in agreement with England, France, Italy and Japan, there would be no opposition in this country worth mentioning.
If you are to take your Western trip, many things could be said in your speeches to clear the way for further action. I shall hope to be in Washington before you leave and to talk these things over in person.
With deep affection,
Devotedly yours,
EM House
Magnolia, Massachusetts.
Original Format
Letter
To
Wilson, Woodrow, 1856-1924
Files
Collection
Citation
House, Edward Mandell, 1858-1938, “Colonel House to Woodrow Wilson,” 1918 September 3, WWP25160, World War I Letters, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.