Charles G. Dawes

Acceptance Speech

Acceptance by Charles Gates Dawes.

Charles Dawes, vice-president of the United States, was not present to receive the Peace Prize for 1925, which he shared with Sir Austen Chamberlain. Given in recognition of his work as chairman of the Dawes Committee handling the problem of German reparations, the award (reserved in 1925) was made on December 10, 1926, at the Nobel Institute in Oslo. The prize was accepted on his behalf by Laurits Selmer Swenson, the United States minister in Oslo, who read the following telegram1 from Mr. Dawes:

“This award, which is in recognition of the work of the First Committee of Experts, Reparation Commission, of which I was chairman, is gratefully acknowledged. The committee was composed of Owen D. Young, Sir Josiah C. Stamp, Sir Robert M. Kindersley, Jean Parmentier, Edgard Allix, Alberto Pirelli, Frederico Flora, Emile Francqui, Baron Maurice Houtart, and myself. It was the endeavor of the experts to found their plan upon the principles of justice, fairness, and mutual interest, relying for its acceptance thus prepared upon that common good faith which is the enduring hope for the universal safeguarding of peace. That the results achieved under it have merited in your judgment this high recognition is a tribute to the united efforts of the committee.”

Mr. Dawes did not deliver a Nobel lecture.


1. This telegram to the American Legation in Oslo, dated December 8, 1926, and sent in English, is the original text in the files of the Nobel Institute. It appears in French translation in Les Prix Nobel en 1926.

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1901-1925, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972

The Nobel Foundation's copyright has expired.

To cite this section
MLA style: Charles G. Dawes – Acceptance Speech. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2024. Wed. 16 Oct 2024. <https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1925/dawes/acceptance-speech/>

Back to top Back To Top Takes users back to the top of the page

Nobel Prizes and laureates

Six prizes were awarded for achievements that have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind. The 12 laureates' work and discoveries range from proteins' structures and machine learning to fighting for a world free of nuclear weapons.

See them all presented here.
Illustration

Explore prizes and laureates

Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize.