As far as concerns us Americans, granted that the peace conference has not for a moment been faithful to the principles of the President, granted that one of the fourteen points was genuinely and exactly applied, why should Italy be the only one of them all to be obliged to apply these principles to a very small and mixed part of the territory which she claims, and thus renounce her natural and geographical frontiers? If Italy had not entered the war in the dark days when she did enter it, the cause of the Entente would have been lost, Germany would have conquered Europe, and the whole of Jugo-Slavia would have become part of the then existing Austro-Hungarian monarchy. The real Jugo-Slavs, like the Croats and Slovenes, who owe their independence to Italy's intervention have fought against Italy with the greatest bitterness up to the last, up to the moment of signing the armistice. In recompense for what Italy has done for the allied cause, in recompense for her half a million dead and her million mutilated, and her exhausted finances, she is now treated with incredible ingratitude and calumniated throughout the world by the work of these great interests that would encompass her ruin. The greater part of my fellow citizens were led to believe the opposite of what I have declared. But, whatever it may cost us, it is time to look truth in the face and to point out the true causes of all the discords and chaos which are tearing Europe to pieces. It is time to unmask these influences which, subsidizing even the Government of Lenin and Trotsky, labor to establish the power of autocracy, to wipe out democracy for hundreds of years to come, and to impose upon the world the rule of the monopolists." So much for the declarations made by a loyal American citizen. We may well ask whether such a man would have taken up such a position between Italy and the peace conference had he not been sure of his ground. Let us now turn to another quarter. The writer in the Echo de Paris who signs himself "Pertinax" is well known as one of the most level headed and authoritative of French publicists. He also is in a position to have an intimate knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes. And he is a man whose integrity and honor are recognized everywhere in France. In the Echo de Paris (April 28) "Pertinax" published an article entitled "Voyage Autour de sa Chambre." It ran as follows: 66 "Voyage Autour de sa Chambre. Yesterday, as it was raining in the park and in town, M. Max Warburg, one of the German plenipotentiaries already arrived at Versailles, did not leave the Hotel des Reservoirs. With the coming week his active rôle commences. He passed the day making a tour of his room, that is to say, turning his thoughts in upon himself. He summoned from afar his relatives, his friends, the relatives and the friends of his relatives and of his friends. After several hours he raised his head, with the feeling that he had reviewed a great throng of people and that he had heard and uttered all the words that will be the leitmotiv of international politics during the coming months and the coming years. He was very fatigued but sufficiently satisfied with himself. "M. Max Warburg is the chief of the banking firm Max M. Warburg & Co. of Hamburg. He is the principal shareholder in the Hamburg-American and German Lloyd steamship lines. His two brothers, MM. Paul and Felix Warburg, married, respectivel, to the sister-in-law and the daughter of M. Jacob H. Schiff (born at Frankfort), are the associates of the latter at the head of the Kuhn Loeb & Co. bank of New York. Here we have a financial group which, up to the declaration of war by America, in April, 1917, was the most powerful link between the politicians of Washington and those of Berlin. When President Wilson reformed the banking system of his country and created the Federal Reserve Board he appointed M. Pau Warburg as one of the directors, on the recommendation of his son-in-law, Mr. MacAdoo, Minister of the Treasury, who had been financially supported by Messrs. Kuhn Loeb & Co. in his railway undertakings. M. Jacob Schiff has been the great financial supporter of the 'Mutual Society of German Jews,' which was linked and is still probably linked on many sides with high German circles. "From 1914 to 1917 this powerful syndicate showed itself extraordinarily active against the Entente. In 1915 the Warburgs of the Old and the New World tried to have the interned German ships acquired by the United States. For a moment it looked as if they were to succeed. In November, 1916, M. Paul Warburg was responsible for the famous circular which recommended the American banks to cease giving money to the Allies. About the same time M. Jacob Schiff founded The American Neutral Conference Committee, which took upon itself the task of bringing about peace with a victorious Germany. Then appeared for the first time all the formulas of the League of Nations, the anathemas launched against the old diplomacy which was said to be responsible for bringing about the war. On this point consult the work 'How the Diplomatists caused the War,' written by M. Heubsch, the colleague of M. Schiff on the Neutral Conference Committee. "It is now a question of overhauling the old German-American machine. 'Is it possible that it can have broken down in two years'? asked M. Max Warburg of himself, tapping the window panes. 'Shall I rebuild it? What I have seen since November is certainly not discouraging.' "It is evidently only by the oddest of chances that M. Max Warburg was the first to be sent to Versailles by the republican Empire. And it is by the oddest of chances that the first to arrive is not the first come. The irony of "Pertinax" in the concluding sentences will escape nobody. The only thing that for the present can be said is that one must await further developments. Though it would be foolish to doubt that a great financial intrigue is doing its best to control the decisions of the Peace Conference, and it would be out of the question to cast doubt on what Dr. Herron has said about the machinations of an "International Financial Gang," yet one can not for a monemt believe that the future of Europe is likely to become a matter for private speculation under the auspices of responsible political representatives. However, as matters stand at present, the public has a right to demand that more light should be thrown on the whole question. The matter can not remain where Dr. Herron and Pertinax have left it. Mr. COTILLO. May I at this time thank the members of the Foreign Relations Committee? I know that I am not making a false statement or assuming for myself too much power when I state that the Italians, particularly of the State of New York, with whom I have lived and come in close contact, sincerely appreciate your attention and courtesy extended to us, in giving us this opportunity of presenting the Italians' side. The CHAIRMAN. If there are any more papers that you want to file, will you please file them as soon as you can, so that we may go to press this evening? Mr. COTILLO. I would like to ask one question. If it is necessarybut I do not think, with the exposition that has been made to-day, that you will require a brief on the question. The CHAIRMAN. No; I think the papers that you have filed here with the secretary cover everything. Mr. COTILLO. Thank you very much. The CHAIRMAN. The committee stands adjourned. There will be no more hearings. (Thereupon, at 11.55 o'clock a. m., the committee adjourned, subject to the call of the chairman.) о |