began to demand most insistently the recog-
nition of her extreme claims in the Adriatic
and in Asia, and when the demands for repa-
rations by both the French and the British
threatened to make it impossible ever to ar-
rive at any reasonable settlement. Wilson
never for a moment lost sight of his declara-
tions that "there shall be no annexations, no
contributions, no punitive damages" and
that "peoples are not to be handed about
from one sovereignty to another by an inter-
national conference": and never for a mo-
ment stopped fighting to realize them.

Not only were the territorial demands
pressed forward, but Lloyd George had made
promises to the British people in the December
elections regarding the amount of money they
must have from Germany which he and every-
one else who was on the inside knew well
enough could never be obtained: and the
French, who had suffered beyond measure,
had a bill which the entire wealth of Germany
--if it had been possible to get it--could not
have paid: and besides this, Belgium had to be
restored.

The American position, strongly supported
all along not only by the President but by all

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