Note 4 — Chapter III · THE PEACE CONFERENCE AT PARIS

Shortly before the election of 1920, Mr. Wilson, in a public statement, denied having made any such statement. The words had been attributed to Mr. Wilson by Senator Spencer of Missouri, who was running for reëlection on the Republican ticket. The denial was given at St. Louis, thus showing that it was meant to influence the campaign. Because Senator Spencer had quoted from one of my articles in “The Century Magazine,” I was called upon to substantiate the citation. This I was able to do from the minutes of the eighth plenary session, a complete copy of which is in my possession. A curious refutation was attempted in the form of a newspaper despatch from Chicago purporting to give the exact transcription of the notes of Mr. Wilson’s confidential stenographer. But the official minutes did not misquote Mr. Wilson. They had been established very carefully, and had not been filed in French in M. Dutasta’s office at the secretariat of the conference until they had been submitted to the American delegation and approved by it. The words quoted here are what Mr. Wilson wanted to have put on official record as expressing his sentiment at the time. The whole context of Mr. Wilson’s speech, moreover, bears witness to the accuracy of the sentiment expressed in this extract.