Paris Peace Conf. 184.1 Bullitt, William
C.
Mr. William C. Bullitt
to the Secretary General of the Commission to Negotiate Peace
(Grew)
Dear Joe: I append a copy of the letter of
resignation which I have just sent to the Secretary of State and a copy of a
note to the President. Personally, I regret extremely that I feel it
necessary to leave the service of the Government, but I cannot convince
myself that any good will ever come from the imposition on the world of the
proposed peace and, therefore, I cannot conscientiously labor for its
establishment.
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Before I go, I wish to express to you the feelings of respect and friendship
which I hold for you personally. I feel that I owe to you the experiences of
the past year and a half and I shall never forget your unfailing courtesy
and kindness to me. I hope that it may not be long before we are again
working together for the establishment of a real peace.
With my sincerest thanks and all good wishes, I am
Very respectfully yours,
[Enclosure 1]
Mr. William C.
Bullitt to President Wilson
My Dear Mr. President: I have submitted today
to the Secretary of State my resignation as an Assistant in the
Department of State, Attache to the American Commission to Negotiate
Peace. I was one of the millions who trusted confidently and implicitly
in your leadership and believed that you would take nothing less than “a
permanent peace” based upon “unselfish and unbiased justice”. But our
Government has consented now to deliver the suffering peoples of the
world to new oppressions, subjections and dismemberments—a new century
of war. And I can convince myself no longer that effective labor for “a
new world order” is possible as a servant of this Government.
Russia, “the acid test of good will”, for me as for you, has not even
been understood. Unjust decisions of the Conference in regard to
Shantung, the Tyrol, Thrace, Hungary, East Prussia, Danzig, the Saar
Valley; and the abandonment of the principle of the Freedom of the Seas
make new international conflicts certain. It is my conviction that the
present League of Nations will be powerless to prevent these wars, and
that the United States will be involved in them by the obligations
undertaken in the Covenant of the League and in the special
understanding with France. Therefore, the duty of the Government of the
United States to its own people and to mankind is to refuse to sign or
ratify this unjust Treaty, to refuse to guarantee its settlements, by
entering the League of Nations, to refuse to entangle the United States
further by the understanding with France.
That you personally opposed most of the unjust settlements, and that you
accepted them only under great pressure, is well known. Nevertheless, it
is my conviction that if you had made your fight in the open, instead of
behind closed doors, you would have carried with you the public opinion
of the world, which was yours; you
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would have been able to resist the pressure and
might have established the “new international order based upon broad and
universal principles of right and justice” of which you used to speak. I
am sorry that you did not fight our fight to the finish and that you had
so little faith in the millions of men, like myself, in every nation who
had faith in you.
Very sincerely yours,
[Enclosure 2]
Mr. William C.
Bullitt to the Secretary of
State
My Dear Mr. Secretary: I respectfully submit to
you my resignation as an Assistant in the Department of State, Attache
to the American Commission to Negotiate Peace. I believe that causes for
future wars have been planted by unjust decisions of the Conference in
regard to Shantung, the Tyrol, Thrace, Hungary, East Prussia, Danzig and
the Saar Valley; and by the abandonment of the principle of the Freedom
of the Seas. It is my conviction that the present League of Nations will
be powerless to prevent these wars and that the United States will be
drawn into them by the obligations undertaken in the Covenant of the
League and in the special understanding with France.
I believe that the welfare of the American people and mankind would be
promoted by the refusal of the United States to sign or ratify the
Treaty of Peace, the League of Nations Covenant and the understanding
with France. Therefore, I feel unable to assist, even as a subordinate,
in the imposition on the world of these settlements and respectfully
request you to accept my resignation.
With my sincerest personal regards, I am
Very respectfully yours,
