Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-12-26
Circulation Every 10O1O
Evening Tuesday 1OO1O 1
THURSDAY. DECEMBER &c, 1918.
Will Have 10 Wait For the Facts.

Y
respondents, representing newspapers Of
the leading countries OF tho world. are
assembled in PARIS. awaiting the opening
of The pcscc conference NJ Versailles the
rrost momcntous diplomatic and political
csthc:Ig since the famous Congress Of
Nierna. which followed the fall of Nspo-
.or Tlcv have been assigned 10 the
1..v 81 not only reporting tie proceed
mrs q. tn. conference but Of presenting TO
nc world. a. by painted picture. us
nc.sonnel ITS purposes ITS influences. and
.nallS ITS doing, and what effect they are
likely 10 have upon the worlds affairs
hereafter
lar more important, il NAV hc sand,
-hc coming Peace Conference ~ Versailles
will be than It's predecessor. the Congress
~ Vienna 81 more than a century ago
he latter Lrdy was called upon 70 rear
range the Inap of Europe and resrrangc
countIiss and governments after the most
rnazing uphcavals and changes hat had
been effected by the great Emperor of the
French people during the high tide of hls
enormous power and inauCncc But the
dominating purpose Of the Congress Of
Nicnna wss TO restore hereditary monarchy
'he icht Of family succession. which had
tccn % ruthlessly set aside hv Napoleon
IN i aholi, ion. rearrangemenf and "onsti-
tltI"n 81 European States. after lC had IN
o-ecd hi, viii upon them hy tic i gl' .,
ll. a-nies
p he NerssiIle> Pcsc, oniercr,e if Is
alrC. j, assured IL, don mating nl,lo,.
viii r. 10 establish 'hIuCel ont Europe
government ~ The l'orlr ''o-odl'ar1
nights vii ro' b. con,idcrcd L vii bc
the purpo.o of he conicrop,c ~ con. oh
date peoples u one ttnrCti al ,y'r-
psth,. IS far possible ln1er nn, fo-fn
of government. and - - srri ncc t"l
rito'Ial boundaries snd me'fo,!, oi ad-
niniStratrnn that IN tho ilItlrc eu,crr-
Ircn' in the various states OF Eu1op, vii
represent popular soyeroientv and H., uii
81 tic people >I-cly. ! great task lN4i
there i, > firm he,ief IN tic light of rcccnr
events and in ieW of the amazing
changes that have already heen wrought
and viii continue 20 &c evolved from the
Ics Its of the great v-ar. ths' he result
viii IL new Europe. with division oi
state in accord with tie real Sen'imenf
81 the various peoples that VIII work
!srn cnioUsly in the noble pYIpoSe ol
cs' hist ing throughout the word great
den orrscy in government tta' vii
fa' os possible represent the popuL,- VII
But. 10 return 10 the correspondents
Ttc.r are several hundred oi them each
an, ipEs 10 get TO the front IN j. wo,k 70
make further reputation for lin self and
above al else. To ascertain What Is likely
10 be done by the conference after It's
ssembhng These correspondents arc
men oi ability Of educa ion and training,
skilled IN all the arts 81 gong beneath /
the surface and uneartfing those things
that the general public could never learn !
we're il not for the able help Of these train |
&c newspaper men
Beng on the ground. il il rot TO be ex-
pected that these correspondents will /
enjoy q season Of rest and recreation. while /
awaiting the assembling Of the Peace |
Conference They will be on the alert I
sctually opens IT'S sessions They will en- /
deavor 10 ascertain what will be done. in
advance Of action They will follow this
trail and that trail, and write the most
M sr.~,,po ia4 t.Vu nm. yipo hie Fror, 49,
observations They will tell waiting
world what President Wilson will do.
what Lloyd George viii do. what Premier
Clemenceau will do, what the leading
of every other nation
will do before the time comes for the
conference 10 open its sessions al Yer
sailles. and before these eminent person
ages themselves know what they will do.
This means columns Of interesting read
ing matter in the daily papers Of almost
sil the world, IN the interim Many 0f the
will absolutely believe
they have discovered the key 10 the
situation" before the situation" really
develops. The most concerted of them
will be the most positive in their assur-
anoes that what they say is what will ac-
tuslly develop when the conference settles
down 70 action
But, after all, it must be borne in mind
hat the Peace Conference has not yet
assembled, and will not for several weeks.
Possibly the preliminary conferences may
give an intelligent idea OF what some of It's
conclusions may be. But one thing may be
,et down as certain: The details Of peace:
he determination Of the many questions
hat the war has brought TO the front; the
amount Of indemnity that Germany will
De required to pay; the geographical re-