Japan, the United States, and the lesser belligerents were willing to make peace. Though the ceremony had none of the pomp and glitter of earlier Peace Conferences-no such display of Court or military uniforms as marked the Congresses of Berlin and Vienna-the scene was solemnly impressive.

The ceremony, which attracted to the hall a crowd of correspondents and officials, started at 2:20 o'clock, when servants brought in great armfuls of the printed conditions of peace and distributed them, one copy to each delegation, around the hollow rectangle. The Germans only were excepted; their copy was delivered to them at 3:17 o'clock, during the translation of Premier Clemenceau's speech. Gradually the hall filled with the main and lesser delegates. The assembly seated itself without signal at about 3 o'clock. A few moments later Colonel Henry, the French liaison officer, appeared in the chamber, heralding the approach of the German delegation. The Germans entered an instant later, preceded by a functionary of the French Government, wearing the glittering chain of his office, who announced in a loud voice. "Messieurs, the German Delegates." There was some confusion among the Germans while they were finding their proper places. Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau took the middle chair, with his five colleagues and Director van Stockhammer of the Foreign Office flanking him on either hand. Five German secretaries and interpreters took their places at tables in the rear.

At the head of the table the striking faces of Premiers Clemenceau and Lloyd George and President Wilson attracted the glances of the spectators. Marshal Foch, sitting with the French delegation at the head of one of the side tables, was another conspicuous figure. The bearded faces of the Serbian statesman, M. Pashitch, and the Greek Premier, M. Venizelos, as well as the familiar features of Ignace Jan Paderewski, the Polish Premier, also stood out prominently. The impassive features of the Japanese representatives, the Oriental lineaments of the Chinese, the brown countenances of the Arabs from Hedjaz, and the presence even of the delegates from Liberia

and Haiti gave evidence, were such needed, of the fact that this was a congress made up of many diverse nations. SPEECH OF M. CLEMENCEAU

Premier Clemenceau, as President of the Congress, rose and declared the session opened. He started immediately upon his opening speech, pausing to permit translation into English and German by French interpreters. His speech was as follows:

Gentlemen, Plenipotentiaries of the German Empire: It is neither the time nor the place for superfluous words. You have before you the accredited plenipotentiaries of all the small and great powers united to fight together in the war that has been so cruelly imposed upon them. The time has come when we must settle our account.

You have asked for peace. We are ready to give you peace. We shall present to you now a book which contains our conditions. You will have every facility to examine these conditions, and the time necessary for it. Everything will be done with the courtesy that is the privilege of civilized nations.

To give you my thought completely, you will find us ready to give you any explanation you want, but we must say at the same time that this second Treaty of Versailles has cost us too much not to take on our side all the necessary precautions and guarantees that the peace shall be a lasting one.

I will give you notice of the procedure that has been adopted by the conference for discussion, and if any one has any observations to offer he will have the right to do so. No oral discussion is to take place, and the observations of the German delegation will have to be submitted in writing.

The German plenipotentiaries will know that they have the maximum period of fifteen days [French idiom for "two weeks"] within which to present in English and French their written observaBefore tions on the whole of the treaty. the expiration of the aforesaid period of fifteen days the German delegates will be entitled to send their reply on particular headings of the treaty, or to ask questions in regard to them.

After having examined the observations presented within the aforementioned period, the Supreme Council will send their answer in writing to the German delegation and determine the period within which the final worldwide answer must be given by this delegation.

The President wishes to add that when we receive, after two or three or four or five days, any observations from the

German delegation on any point of the treaty we shall not wait until the end of the fifteen days to give our answer. We shall at once proceed in the way indicated by this document.

GERMANY HAS THE FLOOR

The French Premier added the customary phrase: "Has any one observations to make?" Count von BrockdorffRantzau raised his hand, but he was not recognized until the Premier's remarks had been translated. During the translation Paul Dutasta, General Secretary of the assembly, moved almost unnoticed across the open space within the rectangle and deposited a copy of the Peace Treaty before the head of the German delegation.

As soon as the translation had been concluded, Premier Clemenceau said: "Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau has the floor."

Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, wearing big horn spectacles, then began to read a prepared speech, during which he remained seated. The speech and the translation proceeded together, the Count's guttural German ringing out on particularly vigorous words or phrases, as, for instance, when he declared that the admission by Germany of the sole guilt for the war would be "a lie," and when he forbade the Allies to speak of "cruelty and murder" in view of the sufferings and death of German civilians under the blockade continued after the signing of the armistice. At these moments the German. delegates seemed to stiffen, as they sat, stern and silent, with folded arms, by Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau's side.

BROCKDORFF'S REPLY

In this speech cf response Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau said:

Gentlemen: We are deeply impressed with the sublime task which has brought us hither to give a durable peace to the world. We are under no illusion as to the extent of our defeat and the degree of our want of power. We know that the power of the German Army is broken. We know the power of the hatred which we encounter here, and we have heard the passionate demand that the conquerors make us pay as the vanquished, and punish those who are worthy of being punished.

It is demanded from us that we shall confess ourselves to be the only ones guilty of the war. Such a confession in my mouth would be a lie. We are far from declining any responsibility that this great war of the world has come to pass, and that it was made in the way in which it was made. The attitude of the former German Government at The Hague Peace Conference, its actions and omissions in the tragic twelve days of July, have certainly contributed to the disaster. But we energetically deny that Germany and its people, who were convinced that they were making a war of defense, were alone guilty.

Nobody will wish to contend that the disaster took its course only in the illfated moment when the heir apparent to the throne of Austria-Hungary fell the victim of murderous hands. In the last fifty years the imperialism of all the European States has chronically poisoned the international situation. The policy of retaliation and the policy of expansion and the disregard of the rights of peoples to determine their own destiny have contributed to the illness of Europe, which saw its crisis in the world war.

Russian mobilization took from the statesmen the possibility of healing, and gave the decision into the hands of the military powers. Public opinion in all the countries of our adversaries is resounding with the crimes which Germany is said to have committed in the war. Here, also, we are ready to confess wrong that may have been done.

We have not come here to belittle the responsibility of the men who have waged the war politically and economically, or to deny any crimes which may have been committed against the rights of peoples. We repeat the declaration which was made in the German Reichstag at the beginning of the war,. that is to "Wrong has been done to Belgium," and we are willing to repair it.

say:

But in the manner of making war also Germany is not the only guilty one. Every nation knows of deeds and of people which the best of that nation remember only with regret. I do not want to answer by reproaches to reproaches, but I ask them, when reparation is demanded, not to forget the armistice. It took you six weeks until we got it at last, and six more until we came to know your conditions of peace.

Crimes in war may not be excusable, but they are committed in the struggle for victory and in the defense of national existence, and passions are aroused which make the conscience of peoples blunt.

The hundreds of thousands of noncombatants who have perished since Nov. 11 by reason of the blockade were killed

with cold deliberation after our adversaries had conquered and victory had been assured to them. Think of that when you speak of guilt and of punishment!

APPORTIONING THE GUILT

The measure of the guilt of all those who have taken part can only be stated by an impartial inquest before a neutral commission, before which all the principal persons of the tragedy are allowed to speak, and to which all the archives are open. We have demanded such an inquest, and we repeat this demand.

In this conference also, where we stand before our adversaries alone and without any allies, we are not quite without protection. You yourselves have brought us an ally, namely, the right which is guaranteed by the treaty and by the principles of peace.

The allied and associated Governments renounced in the time between the 5th of October and the 5th of November, 1918, a peace of violence and have written a peace of justice on their banner. On the 5th of October, 1918, the German Government proposed the principles of the President of the United States of North America as the basis of peace, and on the 5th of November their Secretary of State, Mr. Lansing, declared that the allied and associated powers agreed to this basis, with two definite deviations.

The principles of President Wilson have thus become binding to both parties to the war-for you as well as for us and also for our former allies. The various principles demand from us severe national and economic sacrifices, but the holy fundamental rights of all peoples are protected by this treaty. The conscience of the world is behind it. There is no nation which might violate it without punishment.

You will find us ready to examine upon this basis the preliminary peace which you have proposed to us, with a firm intention of rebuilding in co-operation with you that which has been destroyed, and repairing any wrong that may have been committed, principally the wrong to Belgium, and to show to mankind new alms of political and social progress.

TO REPAIR DEVASTATION Considering the tremendous quantity of problems which arise, we ought as soon as possible to make an examination of the principal tasks by special commissions of experts, on the basis of the treaty which you have proposed to us. In this it will be our chief task to re-establish the devastated vigor of mankind and of all the people who have taken part by international protection of the life, health, and liberty of the working classes.

As our next aim, I consider the recon

struction of the territories of Beigium and of Northern France which have been occupied by us and which have been destroyed by war.

To do so we have taken upon ourselves the solemn obligation, and we are resolved to execute it to the extent which shall have been agreed upon between us. This task we cannot do without the co-operation of our former adversaries. We cannot accomplish the work without the technical and financial participation of the victorious peoples, and you cannot execute it without us.

Impoverished Europe must desire that the reconstruction shall be fulfilled with the greatest success and with as little expense as is in any way possible. This method alone can be desired. It would be the worst method to go on and have the work done by German prisoners of war. Certainly this work is cheap, but it would cost the world dear if hatred and despair should seize the German people when they considered that their brothers, sons, and fathers who were prisoners were kept so beyond the preliminary peace in their former penal work.

Without any immediate solution of this question, which has been drawn out too long, we cannot come to a durable peace. Experts of both sides will have to examine how the German people may meet their financial obligations to repair, without succumbing under their heavy burden. A crash would deprive those who have a right to reparation of the advantages to which they have a claim, and would entail irretrievable disorder of the whole European economical system.

The conquerors, as well as the vanquished peoples, must guard against this menacing danger, with its incalculable consequences. There is only one means of banishing it-unlimited acknowledgment of the economic and social solidarity of all the peoples in a free and rising League of Nations.

WANTS LEAGUE OPEN TO ALL

Gentlemen, the sublime thought to be derived from the most terrible disaster in the history of mankind is the League of Nations. The greatest progress in the development of mankind has been pronounced, and will make its way. Only if the gates of the League of Nations are thrown open to all who are of good-will can the aim be attained, and only then the dead of this war will not have died in vain.

The German people in their hearts are ready to take upon themselves their heavy burden, if the bases of peace which have been established are not any more shaken.

The peace which may not be defended in the name of right before the world

always calls forth new resistance against it. Nobody will be capable of subscribing to it with good conscience, for it will not be possible of fulfillment. Nobody could be able to take upon himself the guarantee of its execution which ought to lie in its signature.

We shall examine the document handed to us with good-will and in the hope that the final result of our interview may be subscribed to by all of us.

On concluding his speech, Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau replaced his spectacles in their case, spread his hands out upon the table and waited. Premier Clemenceau immediately arose and in one or two sharp phrases brought the proceedings to a close.

The German delegates were the first to leave the Trianon Palace after the meeting. Before their reappearance the military guard had been withdrawn in order to avoid any semblance of military honor. On their appearance, they were quickly shown into automobiles, which left immediately under a French and British escort, and moved through crowded streets in an oppressive silence.

MAIN TERMS OF TREATY Pending the publication of the full text of the Treaty of Peace delivered to the German delegation at the ceremony above described, a brief analysis of its content is herewith given. It is the longest treaty ever drawn. It totals about 80,000 words, is divided into fifteen main sections, and represents the combined product of over a thousand experts working continually through a series of commissions for three and a half months, since Jan. 18. The treaty is printed in parallel pages of English and French, which are recognized as having equal validity. It does not deal with questions affecting Austria, Bulgaria, and Turkey, except in so far as binding Germany to accept any agreement reached with those former allies.

Following the preamble and deposition of powers comes the covenant of the League of Nations as the first section of the treaty. The frontiers of Germany in Europe are defined in the second section. European political clauses given in the third, and extra-European political clauses in the fourth. Next are

are

the military, naval, and air terms as the fifth section, followed by a section on prisoners of war and military graves, and a seventh on responsibilities. Reparations, financial terms, and economic terms are covered in Sections VIII. to X. Then come the aeronautic section, ports, waterways, and railways section, the labor covenant, the section on guarantees, and the financial clauses.

MUST GIVE UP LARGE AREA

Germany by the terms of the treaty restores Alsace-Lorraine to France, accepts the internationalization of the Sarre Basin temporarily and of Danzig permanently, agrees to territorial changes toward Belgium and Denmark, and, in the east, Prussia cedes most of Upper Silesia to Poland and renounces all territorial and political rights outside of Europe, as to her own or her allies' territories, and especially to Morocco, Egypt, Siam, Liberia, and Shantung. She also recognizes the total independence of German Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Poland.

Her army is reduced to 100,000 men, including officers; conscription within her territories is abolished; all forts fifty kilometers east of the Rhine are razed, and all importation, exportation, and nearly all production of war material stopped. Allied occupation of parts of Germany will continue till reparation is made, but will be reduced at the end of each of three five-year periods if Germany is fulfilling her obligations. Any violation by Germany of the conditions as to the zone fifty kilometers east of the Rhine will be regarded as an act of

war.

The German Navy is reduced to six battleships, six light cruisers, and twelve torpedo boats, without submarines, and a personnel of not over 15,000. All other vessels must be surrendered or destroyed. Germany is forbidden to build forts controlling the Baltic, must demolish Heligoland, open the Kiel Canal to all nations, and surrender her fourteen submarine cables. She may have no military or naval air forces except 100 unarmed seaplanes until Oct. 1 to detect mines, and may manufacture aviation material for six months.

TO PAY FOR ALL DAMAGES

Germany accepts full responsibility for all damages caused to the allied and associated Governments and nationals, and agrees to reimburse all civilian damages, beginning with an initial payment of 20,000,000,000 marks, (about $5,000,000,000 at pre-war reckoning,) subsequent payments to be secured by bonds to be issued at the discretion of the Reparation Commission. Germany is to pay shipping damage on a ton-forton basis by cession of a large part of her merchant, coasting, and river fleets, and by new construction; and to devote her economic resources to the rebuilding of the devastated regions.

She agrees to return to the 1914 mostfavored nation tariffs, without discrimination of any sort; to allow allied and associated nationals freedom of transit through her territories, and to accept highly detailed provisions as to pre-war debts, unfair competition, internationalization of roads and rivers, and other economic and financial clauses. She also agrees to the trial of the ex-Kaiser by an international high court for a supreme offense against international morality, and of other nationals for violation of the laws and customs of war. Holland is to be asked to extradite the former Kaiser, and Germany is to be responsible for delivery of the other offenders.

Germany is required to deliver manuscripts and prints equivalent in value to those destroyed in the Louvain Library. She must also return works of church art removed from Belgium to Germany.

THE OTHER DETAILS

The League of Nations is accepted by the allied and associated powers as operative, and by Germany, in principle, but without membership. Similarly, an international labor body is brought into being with a permanent office and an annual convention. A great number of international bodies of different kinds and for different purposes are created, some under the League of Nations, some to execute the Peace Treaty; among the former is the Commission to Govern the Sarre Basin till a plebiscite is held, fif

teen years hence; the High Commissioner of Danzig, which is created into a free city under the League, and various commissions for plebiscites in Malmédy, Schleswig, and East Prussia. Among those to carry out the Peace Treaty are the Reparations, Military, Naval, Air, Financial, and Economic Commissions, the International High Court and Military Tribunals to Fix Responsibilities, and a series of bodies for the control of international rivers.

Certain problems are left for solution between the allied and associated powers, notably the details of the disposition of the German fleet and cables, the former German colonies, and the values paid in reparation. Certain other problems, such as the laws of the air and the opium, arms, and liquor traffic, are either agreed to in detail or set for early international action.

PLEDGED TO PROTECT FRANCE

At the time that the official summary of the treaty was given out, a statement was also released in which the United States and Great Britain pledged themselves to take certain preliminary steps toward guaranteeing their assistance to France in case of future attack. statement was as follows:

This

In addition to the securities afforded in the Treaty of Peace, the President of the United States has piedged himself to propose to the Senate of the United States, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain has pledged himself to propose to the Parliament of Great Britain, an engagement, subject to the approval of the Council of the League of Nations, to come immediately to the assistance of France in case of unprovoked attack by Germany.

This pledge, according to information published in Paris, was made on the morning of May 7, prior to the ceremony of delivering the Treaty of Peace. Speculation as to the nature of the supplementary treaty was clarified from Washington on May 9, when Secretary Tumulty made public this cablegram from President Wilson regarding the proposed pledge to France:

Happily there is no mystery or privacy about what I have promised the Government here. I have promised to propose to the Senate a supplement in which we shall agree, subject to the approval of the