Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/117A/1 - October 1918 - Part 6

tomorrow. Billy asked
Murdoch the he & I sd
knock out something for
him on / lines wh he
suggested. But old Keith
ws clearly anxious to
do it by himself. He
had nearly finished it
when we got back; &
so I limited my interference 
to one or two
suggestions. It struck me
tt one good point wd
be tt / Kaiser ws asking
now for a mixed commission.
It was well, at this moment
to remember tt / Kaiser cd
have had his mixed
  

in the bitter school in
which we have learnt.
I went for a walk with
Box & Murdoch tonight,
last thing; we walked
up ^towds the Champs Elysée till
Murdoch & I suddenly
collapsed & fell on our
noses over the low wire
border of the grass plots in
the dark. It was an
interesting walk.
Murdoch sd tt the
answer of Wilson had bn
discussed in / Impl War
Cabinet; no statement had
bn made upon it by any
o / allies publicly - no
comment; & Lloyd George
 

in wh we were onlookers.
This is a struggle in wh we
are all fighting in our own
way & have certainly all
suffered too deeply to allow tt
sort of "Mafficking." I think
it is the dead who rise up
between the survivors & any
sort of bacchanalian rejoicing
such as tt wh followed /
Relief of Mafeking.
This afternoon we
got old Boddy in the old
mudsplashed Vauxhall to
take us for a drive to
Versailles while Murdoch
stayed behind to compose
Billy's speech at the luncheon 

ws asked what wd be /
position o / allies if Germany
accepted. "Well - I cannot
see tt we can do anything else
but stand by Woodrow Wilson,"
he said - "we shall have
to accept & stand by what
he says. There seems to be no
alternative" - or words
to that effect.
The alternative is
of course to hammer x
xxx / Germans for all
we are worth & try to
smash them (as Hughes
expects) while / terms are
still unfixed. After / German
reply there will be an
 

and it looks like it.
There is very little shouting
in Paris. People are
interested in / newspapers
- but as much ^or more to see what
/ Armies have done - not
so much to see / German
reply. Laon & La Fere
have bn taken, but there
is no rejoicing in Paris.
I wd never have believed
tt / French wd remain
so calm at a moment
such as this - but /
currents which are flowing
in this war are too deep
for that sort of superficial
expression wh they used
to obtain in / Boer war.
That was more like a game
  

American reply, presumably
& perhaps another German
reply after tt. In any
case Foch will be called on
to fix / terms o / Armistice -
An Armistice is a
military agreement &
Pres. Wilson can surely not
undertake to remove this from
/ hands o / army commander
 & fix it over his head.
This gives at least three weeks
& it shd be possible for
the allies to get Turkey &
Austria out o / war in
tt time.
Hughes ws asked whether
- if it were necessary to make
a big push - he wd consent to
 

Millet says. There is
no fear of what Foch
wd ask. He wd see tt
/ allied armies are not
only in as good a positin
if / war were to continue
after / Armistice -
- but in a better position
if anything. That is his
absolute & unquestionable
right.
The papers show
that the German reply
has bn received in America
- or at any rate has bn
published. It does
accept Wilsons terms.
"All over, bar the shouting"
said Box.
  

the Australian divisions
being used. He said that
if there were a prospect
of their being necessary for
a decisive blow - he would.
But he laid it down as
absolutely necessary tt they
shd have at least a
months rest. The 1st
& 4^th Divns, of course,
have had about nearly
a months rest.
I thought this ws right.
Box thought it wd be a
very great shame if the 
divisions were called back
to / fight again this year
- (Every one that one comes
 

& dismissed him in
two words - so.
Millet says that
the French govt has
already made up
its mind about /
Armistice: its
intuition is tt that
is to be a matter for
Foch - the C in C.
That is its attitude.
Also / terms of /
Armistice seem to have
bn discussed & settled
as far as / French
Govt ^(or Foch) can settle them.
- & they are alright, so
  

across, French, English,
American; admits that
they have deserved their
rest indeed).
Douai has bn taken
by / British.
Oct 13^th Sunday :
Hughes intends to busy
himself tomorrow morning
getting this statement from
Clemenceau. "It is not
I who am going to speak it
- it is someone else" he
told the three pressmen. And
they were to come tomorrow
& get it or find out if it had
bn obtained. But Hughes also
 

Pichon, the French
Foreign Minister - a
rich man of not very
great account - no one
except Clemenceau
seems to count in /
French ministry.
Millet had arranged
a lunch with M. Pichon
tomorrow (Monday) at
wh Hughes was anxious
to speak - Hughes lunches
at / Embassy today.
"Derby" - he sd, shrugging
his shoulders to one o /
English pressmen - "Derby
- oh he's no use -
he won't do anything,"
  

wants to make a
speech himself. He wanted
to jump right in on / same
subject. Murdoch advised
him not to do this - the
reason why Hughes wanted
to make this other speech
was in order to obtain
or strengthen his standing
w a view to getting a
place at the Peace Conference.
He is utterly against
Australia going unrepresented
there - If yet it will be
very very difficult to make
a place. There might be
one representative of the
Dominions at the Peace
 

states with a view to
letting / French understand
their need for representation.
Oct 13 Sunday.
Box and I had
breakfast in our bedroom;
& in / middle in came
Millet (I don't know if
he spells it so or Millais
or how) of the French
Ministry of  Marine
- a most intelligent
chap, formerly a
journalist, who speaks
English perfectly. He was
formerly secretary or
something o / sort to
  

Conference; but Canada
wd not allow Hughes to
stand for her. Canada has
no one here.  The only
man on / spot is Smuts
& / British Government is almost
certain to suggest Smuts
as the representative o /
Dominions.
Hughes is determined
to stay. He will combine
the Peace Conference with
the necessity for an Australian
representative of strong
influence to back her in
the Repatriation of the A.I.F.
For xxx these reasons
Hughes wants to make his
 

room for a mistake.
I shd say tt - Hughes cd not
go wrong in his speech if he
went all out for democracy
- & that wd help to keep
the English socialists in
w him - Box is afraid
of Smilie & his sort.
Murdoch says it wd not
make any difference
to Smilie whether they
got a democratic Germany
out o / war or not
- he wdnt care. Murdoch
wants Hughes to explain to
/ French people what /
British Empire is - how
the dominions are equal
  

voice heard.
Murdoch is against
his appearing to attack or
interfere w Wilson.
It seems to me tt Wilsons
answer leaves a great
deal of room for conjecture
& tt it is quite possible
tt, written within / limits of it,
Wilson may really intend
to ask for all / terms tt
we want. His question
to Germany ^the Kaiser: "Who do you
represent?" really involves
an answer giving us all
tt we are fighting for in /
war. It is unthinkable tt
Wilson can merely take /
 

what / suffrage wd be,
when / elections wd be,
what the executive would
act on (the authority of
the Kaiser or of the
Reichstag or what) & to
whom the ministers wd
be responsible - the
actual form o / constitution
- the sections & clauses
settled by law - before
he gave away our
present military advantage
in an Armistice. You
cant fight 4 years of
terrible war & then give
away / result by being
too polite or by leaving
  

Kaisers word tt he has
revolutionised his government
& constitution - the Kaisers
Government's word is not worth
that of a Jew pedlar, after the
peace of Brest Litovsk. The
Germans obtained that
armistice on / grounds of
No Annexation, no
indemnities - & when they
had Russia disarmed they
took both - as much as
the cd get of them. No one
trust the German official
word for ten minutes today.
Wilson would surely have
to ask what exact form
the constitution wd take,
 

Hand drawn sketch