Paris Peace Conf. 181/14
The Secretary General of the Commission to Negotiate Peace (Grew) to the American Secretaries of the Commissions and Committees on the Peace Conference
[Paris,] February 24, 1919.
Subject: Distribution of Minutes of the Various Sub-Committees and Special Commissions of the Conference.
Supplementing my communication of February 19, 1919, and with reference to our conversation of Wednesday morning, may I call to your attention the following points relative to the preparation and distribution of the minutes of the various meetings of your commissions or committees:—
I
- 1.
- Information has been received that at a meeting of the International Secretariat of the Peace Conference, Thursday, February 13, 1919, it was decided that the minutes of the various sub-committees [Page 515] and special commissions of the Conference are to be distributed to these committees and commissions by the secretaries of each.
- 2.
- They will be distributed among the various delegations which are not represented on the committees or commissions, in respective instances, by the Secretary General of the Peace Conference, to whom a sufficient number of copies should be furnished for this purpose.
II
- 1.
- An inquiry was also made by the Secretary General of the Peace Conference as to whether the American Delegation intend to print the American text of the minutes of such committees and commissions. This matter is in direct connection with the production of mimeograph copies of the minutes, which are now being made as a result of the conference in my office on Wednesday morning, February 19, 1919.
- 2.
- I have therefore taken the liberty to answer the Secretary General of the Peace Conference to the effect that he will be furnished with texts of the minutes of the meetings in the English language, which consequently it will be necessary for you to submit to his office, possibly in collaboration with your British colleague.
III
- 1.
- In mentioning the matter discussed in Section II, preceding, I am reminded that a final report is, of course, to be prepared by each committee or commission. May I venture to direct your attention to the fact that these final reports should be prepared in printed form for consideration by the Peace Conference, and that a sufficient number of copies in the English text should be at hand for the use of the members of the American Commission at least twenty-four hours before the matter is to be taken up for consideration by the Conference. This may also be worked out in collaboration with your British colleague, if such action is found practicable.
- 2.
- The text of the printed copy of the final report will be official and will, as mentioned on last Wednesday morning, agree exactly with the sense of the official text of the copy printed in the French language. The number of printed copies of these reports which should be furnished to the Secretary General of the Peace Conference will depend upon his needs therefor, but without knowing exactly how many he may require, I would suggest that one hundred copies be placed in his hands at a time not less than twenty-four hours before the session at which the report will receive consideration.
Very sincerely yours,
J. C. Grew