ch, breaking away from an
avalanche of stones, hurls itself downwards without a leader and
without goal, and is no longer capable of being guided by anyone.

The Council of Four at Versailles tried for some time to make the
world believe that they possessed the power to rebuild Europe
according to their own ideas. According to their own ideas! That
signified, to begin with, four utterly different ideas, for four
different worlds were comprised in Rome, Paris, London, and
Washington. And the four representatives--"the Big Four," as they were
called--were each individually the slave of his programme, his
pledges, and his people. Those responsible for the Paris negotiations
_in camera_, which lasted for many months, and were a breeding ground
for European anarchy, had their own good reasons for secrecy; there
was no end to the disputes, for which no outlet could be found.

Here, Wilson had been scoffed at and cursed because he deserted his
programme; certainly, there is not the slightest similarity between
the Fourteen Points and the Peace of Versailles and St. Germain, but
it is forgotten now that Wilson no longer had the power to enforce his
will against the three others. We do not know what occurred behind
those closed doors, but we can imagine it, and Wilson probably fought
weeks and months for his programme. He could have broken off
proceedings and left! He certainly could have done so, but would the
chaos have been any less; would it have been any better for the world
if the only one who was not solely imbued with the lust of conquest
had thrown down his arms? But Clemenceau, too, the direct opposite of
Wilson, was not quite open in his dealings. Undoubtedly this old man,
who now at the close of his life was able to satisfy his hatred of the
Germans of 1870, gloried in the triumph; but, apart from that, if he
had tried to conclude a "Wilson peace," all the private citizens of
France, great and small, would have risen against him, for they had
been told for the last five years: _Que les boches payeront tout_.
What he did, he enjoyed doing; but he was forced to do it or France
would have dismissed him.

And Italy? From Milan to Naples is heard the subterraneous rumbling of
approaching revolution; the only means the Government have adopted to
check the upheaval is to drown the revolution in a sea of national
interests. I believe that in 1917, when the general discontent was
much less and finances were much better, th