This work was published early in the course of the Paris Peace Conference. Even at that time its title was somewhat misleading. Practically all of the so-called secret documents contained in it, including the extracts from the proceedings of the Allied Council which adopted the armistice terms, had already been published in every country that took any interest in the war.

It is my purpose to present to you some aspects of the work of the Department of State. In view of the nature and scope of the discussions at this meeting I do not need to emphasize the extraordinary importance of our international relations at this time. But I feel that such discussions, despite their wide range, would be inadequate unless they also served to bring about a better understanding on the part of the business men of the country of the essential instrumentality through which intercourse with foreign governments is conducted.

The undersigned, appointed by the President as Commissioners to represent the Government of the United States at the Conference on Limitation of Armament, have the honor to submit the following report of the Proceedings of the Conference.

On July 8, 1921, by direction of the President, the Department of State addressed an informal inquiry to the group of Powers known as the Principal Allied and Associated Powers—that is, Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan—to ascertain whether it would be agreeable to them to take part in a conference on the subject of limitation of armament, to be held in Washington at a time to be mutually agreed upon. In making this inquiry, it was stated to be manifest that the question of Umitation of armament had a close relation to Pacific and Far Eastern problems, and the President suggested that the Powers especially interested in these problems should undertake in connection with the Conference the consideration of all matters bearing upon their solution with a view to reaching a common understanding with respect to principles and policies in the Far East.

The first article of the American treaty with China, June 18, 1858, reads:

In his last annual message President Taft thus described the diplomacy of his administration: “ The diplomacy of the present administration has sought to respond to modern ideas of commercial intercourse. This policy has been characterized as substituting dollars for bullets… It is an effort frankly directed to the increase of American trade upon the axiomatic principle that the Government of the United States shall extend all proper support to every legitimate and beneficial American enterprise abroad.”

I have come to make report to you of the conclusions of what has been termed the Washington Conference on the Limitation of Armament, and to lay before you the series of treaties which the United States and the other powers participating in the conference have negotiated and signed, and have announced to the world. Apart from the very great satisfaction in reporting to the Senate, it is a privilege as well as a duty to ask that advice and consent which the Constitution requires to make these covenants effective.

I desire to take this opportunity to present some observations on the conduct of our foreign relations, not to define particular policies, but to consider method and control.

Recent developments abroad have marked the passing of the old diplomacy and the introduction of more direct and flexible methods responsive to democratic sentiment. Peace-loving democracies have not been willing to rest content with traditions and practices which failed to avert the great catastrophe of the world war. Public criticism in some instances overshot the mark and becoming emotional enjoyed the luxury of a bitter and indiscriminate condemnation. The most skilled diplomats of Europe were charged with having become “enmeshed in formulae and the jargon of diplomacy”; with having “ceased to be conscious of pregnant realities”. More potent than the critics were the exigencies due to the war which required the constant contact and direct interchanges of responsible leaders.

It is of advantage to every state in need of financial aid, as well as to the banks of every country having funds to invest abroad, that external governmental loans be generally regarded attractive.

In the evening hours of the 8th of March, 1921, the president of the Spanish Council of Ministers, Don Eduardo Dato, was assassinated as he was bound from the Senate for his home.

The most important single step taken by the western powers in protecting their nationals in China was the acquisition of extraterritoriality. This withdrew them from the jurisdiction of Chinese law and placed them under the laws and tribunals of the home country. As there is at the present time a great deal of discussion as to whether these rights should be withdrawn it may be worth while to glance for a moment at the reasons for the origin of the system, and this may in turn enable us to judge better whether the conditions which gave rise to it have as yet passed away.