Paris Peace Conf. 184.011/40c
Professor A. C. Coolidge to the Secretary of State
[Received January 16.]
Sir: I have the honor to report that I sent to you today en clair the following telegram: “British Embassy occupied publicly by British Military Representatives. Stop. Urge strongly for reasons of efficiency and economy that we be allowed to make use of available consular quarters”. The need for me to use the consular premises is great. Work is coming on fast and I have a large staff for whom it is almost impossible to find suitable working accommodations. The city is very full and quarters of all kinds are exceedingly hard to obtain and command high prices. As I said in my telegram the British Military Agent is publicly installed in the British Embassy. The American clerk who is in charge of our interests in the Spanish Embassy has continued to use a portion of the former American Chancery. In any quarters which we might hire it would be almost impossible to obtain coal. In the American Consulate there is coal already and more might be procurable. I am going in the immediate future to lend some of my men for work for the Food Commission and such a thing may well happen again. Under these circumstances I trust that my request will be granted.
I have [etc.]