Paris Peace Conf. 103.93/34
The Executive Secretary of the Commission to Negotiate Peace (Patchin) to the Secretary General of the Commission to Negotiate Peace (Grew)
In response to your instructions I have taken up with Mr. Suter of the Committee on Public Information the matter of suspension of their various services, and submit the following report:
Mr. Creel has ordered the suspension of all activities on July 1st. This involves the closing of the Paris and New York offices on June 15 in order that all records and accounts may be cleared up by the end of the fiscal year. This will deprive the Commission and the Government of the following services:
- 1.
- Utilization of the Committee’s machinery, hitherto most effective and useful, for the world-wide distribution of Presidential speeches, Peace Commission communiques, Relief Commission communiques and various other things. There will doubtless be further Presidential addresses and official statements which in the interests of the country will require widest distribution.
- 2.
- The Committee has since the beginning of the Conference transmitted some thousands of words daily for American correspondents to the United States by radio. A suspension of this service would create a great deal of trouble with the correspondents who utilize it freely and depend upon it for quick transmission, the cable delays often running to sixty and seventy hours.
- 3.
- The Committee furnishes a daily summary of American news and editorial comment on matters of interest to the Commission, [Page 590] as well as to the A. E. F. The news summary comes by radio, the editorial comment, particularly if it is critical, by the more secret cable. This service is interesting and helpful. It is sent from the Committee’s New York office which also attends to “broadcasting” Presidential messages, to the American, Latin-American and the Far Eastern press. Therefore, if that office is kept open for one purpose it can also without considerable additional expense, except cable tolls, furnish the news and editorial summary.
- 4.
- The Committee’s London office has been closed. It furnished a voluminous daily report of the English press, incorporating the news sent by American correspondents of British newspapers, comprising the most elaborate news service from America received in Paris. Since May 31 the Commission has been without this service. This office was a most important link in the system of broadcasting Presidential messages, etc.
- 5.
- The Paris Office of the Committee attends to copying and distributing all material received, from New York and from London, filing outgoing material on the radio, filing Presidential and other addresses, broadcasting all official statements, et cetera. It also produced a review of the French press. This has been abandoned. The Commission, however, has a review of its own.
Cost:
The committee appears to have funds sufficient to run to the end of the present month so far as Paris is concerned. As to New York the exact situation is not known. The London Office can be reopened at once, the staff not having departed for the United States, at a cost of about $300. per week, exclusive of cable tolls, the amount of which would depend on the quantity of material handled. The New York office would require $400. weekly. The Paris office could be kept on for the $500. weekly, a total of operating expenses of about $1,200. per week, exclusive of cable tolls.
It is possible that the Committee on Public Information has funds which might be used for the continuation of the work until the end of the Conference. This could be ascertained by telegraphing Mr. Creel, who, however, is very anxious to wind up the Committee’s affairs everywhere.
Mr. Herman Suter is now in charge of the Paris office, Mr. Rogers having departed, and is willing to carry on the work, although at considerable personal sacrifice.48