Cary T. Grayson Diary
Title
Cary T. Grayson Diary
Creator
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938
Identifier
WWP17172
Date
1919 May 21
Source
Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library, Staunton, Virginia
Language
English
Text
The President went for a walk after breakfast, and on his return he held a meeting here of the Big Three at eleven o’clock. Lloyd George and Clemenceau were present, Orlando having gone down to confer with the members of the Italian government over the French boundary in Italy. The question of Asia Minor, which is a very tense one so far as both England and France are concerned, was up for consideration. Before the meeting had much more than started Clemenceau and Lloyd George got into a very serious clash, the question of the secret treaties which had been entered into during the war precipitating it. Clemenceau declared that Lloyd George had made serious misrepresentations, and had in effect charged him with having lied. Finally, Lloyd George declared that he would not allow any such statement to be made and addressing himself directly to Clemenceau he demanded that he apologize and take back his charges. Lloyd George angrily demanded of Clemenceau: “Will you apologize?” In replay Clemenceau said: “That’s not my style of doing business.” President Wilson finally straightened out the pair of them out and managed to get them down to business. Finally, when the meeting came to an end the President jokingly said to them: “You have been two bad boys, and so it would be well for you to shake hands and make up.” They stepped towards each other but there was a very apparent evidence on both sides that the bitterness still held, and for a few seconds they confronted each other tense and bitter. At last Lloyd George stuck out his hand and Clemenceau grasped it. They both looked at the President, and seeing him smiling, they laughed heartily and thus wiped out the last trace of any bitterness. The President said to me afterwards: “They remind me of two boys.”
The President, Mrs. Wilson and I had lunch, and after lunch the President took an hour’s nap, while I gave him some treatment for a headache which had developed as a result of the strain of the morning session.
The Big Three met again in the afternoon and had before them the request from the German delegates for an extension of time in which to consider the treaty terms. The Germans had sent word that they would still have at least six additional notes to communicate to the Allied and Associated governments, and also that they had prepared substitute clauses for various sections of the proposed treaty which they had not yet fully perfected and would require time to do so. The Big Three decided to allow them an additional week in which to consider this matter. The extension of time came very much as a surprise inasmuch as it had been thought that the Germans would be held entirely to the original time limit set. However, the French, running tru to form, have now begun to worry and think that the treaty terms have been made so stringent that the Germans would not sign, and they were suggesting certain modifications which could be made to meet the views of the Germans. These modifications as a matter of fact were along the lines for which the President had stood out months ago and were designed to allow economic changes which would make more easy the payment of reparations that have been demanded. The French experts had submitted a report which was before the President and which dealt with these matters. It was considered a coincidence that the majority of the recommendations that the French had arrived at were simply those which the American economic experts had urged from the outside of the deliberations.
After dinner the President went over a number of official papers.
The President, Mrs. Wilson and I had lunch, and after lunch the President took an hour’s nap, while I gave him some treatment for a headache which had developed as a result of the strain of the morning session.
The Big Three met again in the afternoon and had before them the request from the German delegates for an extension of time in which to consider the treaty terms. The Germans had sent word that they would still have at least six additional notes to communicate to the Allied and Associated governments, and also that they had prepared substitute clauses for various sections of the proposed treaty which they had not yet fully perfected and would require time to do so. The Big Three decided to allow them an additional week in which to consider this matter. The extension of time came very much as a surprise inasmuch as it had been thought that the Germans would be held entirely to the original time limit set. However, the French, running tru to form, have now begun to worry and think that the treaty terms have been made so stringent that the Germans would not sign, and they were suggesting certain modifications which could be made to meet the views of the Germans. These modifications as a matter of fact were along the lines for which the President had stood out months ago and were designed to allow economic changes which would make more easy the payment of reparations that have been demanded. The French experts had submitted a report which was before the President and which dealt with these matters. It was considered a coincidence that the majority of the recommendations that the French had arrived at were simply those which the American economic experts had urged from the outside of the deliberations.
After dinner the President went over a number of official papers.
Original Format
Diary
Files
Collection
Citation
Grayson, Cary T. (Cary Travers), 1878-1938, “Cary T. Grayson Diary,” 1919 May 21, WWP17172, Cary T. Grayson Papers, Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library & Museum, Staunton, Virginia.