Inquiry Document No. 893
A Preliminary Survey
I.—Practical tasks of the Conference in which the Inquiry can help
1) Establish or provide for the establishment of boundaries.
2) Set up or provide for the setting up of governments.
[Page 18]3) Estimate strength and weakness of doubtful states.
4) Draw up or provide for the drawing up of economic arrangements.
5) Provide for the safeguarding of minorities or of weak peoples.
6) Provide for equality of economic opportunity (most favored nation clause?)
7) Rewrite or provide for the rewriting of international law in general and as applied to specific problems—Miller, Woolsey, Scott, and State Department.
8) Bear in mind diplomatic history—ditto.
II.—Regions in which each task of Conference in which Inquiry can help will or may have to be undertaken
1) Fragments of Russia—a) west, b) south, c) west.
Will have to be undertaken: estimate of strength and weakness of doubtful states.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, governments, economic arrangements, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
2) Nucleus of Russia.
Will have to be undertaken: estimate of strength and weakness of doubtful states.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, governments, economic arrangements, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
3) Poland.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries, governments.
May have to be undertaken: economic arrangements, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
4) Slesvig.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries.
5) Belgium.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, economic arrangements.
6) Luxemburg.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, economic arrangements.
7) Alsace-Lorraine.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries.
8) Trentino region.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries.
9) Triest region.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries.
10) Austria-Hungary.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries, governments, economic arrangements.
May have to be undertaken: safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
[Page 19]11) Balkans.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries, estimate of strength and weakness of doubtful states (Albania).
May have to be undertaken: governments, economic arrangements, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
12) Turkey.
Will have to be undertaken: boundaries, estimate of strength and weakness of doubtful states, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
May have to be undertaken: governments, economic arrangements.
13) North Africa.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, economic arrangements, safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
14) Tropical and South Africa.
Will have to be undertaken: safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, economic arrangements.
15) Far East.
May have to be undertaken: economic arrangements.
16) Pacific Islands.
May have to be undertaken: safeguarding of minorities or weak peoples.
17) Latin America.
May have to be undertaken: boundaries, economic arrangements.
18) Persia and Afghanistan.
19) Spitsbergen.
classified by tasks.
1) The establishment or provision for the establishment of boundaries will have to be undertaken for Poland, Alsace-Lorraine, Trentino region, Triest region, Austria-Hungary, Balkans, and Turkey.
The establishment or provision for the establishment of boundaries may have to be undertaken for the fragments of Russia, the nucleus of Russia, Slesvig, Belgium, Luxemburg, North Africa, Tropical and South Africa, Latin America.
2) The setting up or provision for the setting up of governments will have to be undertaken for Poland and Austria-Hungary.
The setting up or provision for the setting up of governments may have to be undertaken for the fragments of Russia, the nucleus of Russia, the Balkans, and Turkey.
3) Estimates of the strength and weakness of doubtful states will have to be undertaken for the fragments of Russia, the nucleus of Russia, the Balkans, and Turkey.
[Page 20]4) The drawing up or provision for the drawing up of economic arrangements may have to be undertaken for the fragments of Russia, the nucleus of Russia, Poland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Alsace-Lorraine, Austria-Hungary, the Balkans, Turkey, North Africa, Tropical and South Africa, the Far East, and Latin America.
5) Provision for the safeguarding of minorities or of weak peoples will have to be undertaken for Turkey and Tropical and South Africa.
Provision for the safeguarding of minorities or of weak peoples may have to be undertaken for the fragments of Russia, the nucleus of Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, the Balkans, North Africa, and the Pacific Islands.
III.—How Inquiry can help with regard to each major task of Conference
1) Boundaries:
- a)
- Racial boundaries:
- i)
- Make a racial map of Europe, Asiatic Turkey, etc., showing boundaries and mixed and doubtful zones.
- ii)
- On basis of i) draw racial boundary lines where possible, i. e. when authorities agree; when they disagree select those we had best follow; when these disagree map the zone of their disagreement; study density and distribution of peoples in these zones.
- iii)
- Study, in each case, the stability or instability of racial distribution (e. g. Macedonia, N. E. Albania) as affected by change of political boundaries and consequent governmental action, by economic forces, by religious forces, by other cultural forces, etc., but all with stability or instability in mind.
- b)
- Historic facts and national or racial aspirations as indicating boundaries (e. g. Serbo-Bulgarian ’12 agreement).
- c)
- Economic facts and needs as indicating boundaries (e. g. Jugo-slavia or Albania or Poland or Czecho-Slovakia as a well-balanced economic unit, access to ports, and markets, i. e. minor units that should not be disrupted, etc.).
- d)
- Defensive needs as indicating boundaries.
- e)
- International commitments and obligations as affecting proposed boundaries.
2) Government:
- a)
- Inquiry can give some account of political and economic and military strength and weakness of “states,” and of what participation in government peoples have had, and an estimate of their capacity for self-government.
- b)
- Inquiry can give some account of “provisional governments” that have claimed to represent them.
- c)
- Beyond that it is a question of recognizing some provisional government, and, possibly, offering it facilities for getting started (and protection while doing so?).
3) Economic arrangements.
- a)
- Inquiry can gather some data as to economic resources and needs, strength and weakness.
- b)
- Inquiry can gather some data as to possible attempts to subject to economic vassalage.
4) Safeguarding minorities and weak peoples.
- a)
- Inquiry can gather data showing weakness and possible aggression, and needs and methods in the matter of protection.
IV.—The contribution of the Inquiry described in general terms
1) A collection of data in: a) reports; b) made maps and graphs; c) books and articles; d) collected maps, graphs, etc. All these must be made available by highly intelligent selection and indexing.
2) A presentation of the larger problems with regard to each problem area in the form of a discussion and evaluation of the data that bear on them, through the instrumentality of maps, graphs, and reports.
3) A force of trained men whose members have collected the data and made and can use the index in 1), have had part in 2), and can, on request, carry 2) further by means of 1).
V.—Tasks of Conference the Inquiry cannot further and where they may be furthered
1) The exchange and repatriation of prisoners of war (War Department).
2) The restoration of devastated areas and provision for the needs of their populations.
3) Limitation of armaments (State, War, and Navy Departments).
4) International law regulating aircraft (War and Navy Departments, aided by State Department).
5) Allocation of raw materials, shipping, etc., during reconstruction (War Trade, War Industry, Shipping Boards).
6) Commercial treaties (Department of Commerce, Tariff Commission, except as stated above).
7) Current relations and commitments (State Department).
8) Drafting reports and making record (State Department with aid of Miller, Woolsey, Scott).