orce the details of the peace to which the German Government has
agreed." At the end of this Note the President hinted more openly than
in that of October 14 at the abdication of the Kaiser. This completes
the preliminary negotiations to which the President alone was a party,
adding without the Governments of the Allied Powers.

On November 5, 1918, the President transmitted to Germany the reply he
had received from the Governments associated with him, and added that
Marshal Foch had been authorized to communicate the terms of an
armistice to properly accredited representatives. In this reply the
Allied Governments, "subject to the qualifications which follow, declare
their willingness to make peace with the Government of Germany on the
terms of peace laid down in the President's Address to Congress of
January 8, 1918, and the principles of settlement enunciated in his
subsequent Addresses." The qualifications in question were two in
number. The first related to the Freedom of the Seas, as to which they
"reserved to themselves complete freedom." The second related to
Reparation and ran as follows:--"Further, in the conditions of peace
laid down in his Address to Congress on the 8th January, 1918 the
President declared that invaded territories must be restored as well as
evacuated and made free. The Allied Governments feel that no doubt
ought to be allowed to exist as to what this provision implies. By it
they understand that compensation will be made by Germany for all damage
done to the civilian population of the Allies and to their property by
the aggression of Germany by land, by sea, and from the air."[7]

The nature of the Contract between Germany and the Allies resulting from
this exchange of documents is plain and unequivocal. The terms of the
peace are to be in accordance with the Addresses of the President, and
the purpose of the Peace Conference is "to discuss the details of their
application." The circumstances of the Contract were of an unusually
solemn and binding character; for one of the conditions of it was that
Germany should agree to Armistice Terms which were to be such as would
leave her helpless. Germany having rendered herself helpless in reliance
on the Contract, the honor of the Allies was peculiarly involved in
fulfilling their part and, if there were ambiguities, in not using their
position to take advantage of them.

What, then, was the substance of this Contract to which the Allies had
boun