The Glasgow courier. [volume] (Glasgow, Mont.) 1913-current, 1919-05-09

session of the peace congress M. Glenn
enceau, the presiding officer, speak
ing to the German plenipotentiaries,
said:
ut is unnecessary to express need
less words. You have before you the
plenipotentiaries of the small and
great powers united in this most cruel
war, which was imposed upon them.
The hour has arrived for heavy set
tlement of the account
Paul Dutasta, secretary general of
the peace conference, delivered a copv
of the treaty to Count Won Brock
dorff Rantzau, head of the German
delegation, who made a brief reply.
Count Won Brockdorff- -Rantzau said:
"We declare that we do not deny
the extent of our defeat. We know the
power of the German armies is brok-
en-"
He was unable to admit that Ger
many was solely culpable, and de-
manded that the allies make peace ac-
cording to President Wilson's points.
Germany pledged itself to repair
the wrong done to Belgium and gave
assurance of the reconstruction of the
territories in northern France. Count
Won Brockdorff- -Rantzau asked for the
liberation of German prisoners, and
said that Germany adopted the league
of nations.
Following is the address of NJ.
Clemenceau:
Gentlemen, plenipotentiaries Of the
German empire: 1t is neither the time
nor the place for superf1uous 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 cruelty
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 book which con-
tains our conditions. You will be Civ
en- every facility to examine these
conditions and the time necessary for
it. Everything will be done with the
courtesy that is the privilege Of civil
lied nations.
''To give you my thought complete
ly, 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.
81 will give you notice of the pro-
cedure that has been adopted by the
conference for discussion and if any
ore has any observations to offer he
will have the right to do so. No oral
discussion is to take place and the OBJ
servations of the German delegation
will have to be submitted in writing.
Will Permit Questions.
"The German plenipotentiaries will
know that they have the maximum
period Of Is days within which to pre-
sent in English and French their writ
ten observations on the whole of the
treaty. Before the expiration of the
aforesaid period of Is days, the Ger
man delegates will be entitled to send
their reply on particular headings of
the treaty, or to ask questions in re-
gard to them.
"After having examined the obser-
vations presented within the afore-
mentioned period, the supreme council
will send their answers in writing to
the German delegation and determine
the period within which the final
global (world-wide) answer must be
given by this delegation.
"The president wishes to add that
when we receive, after two or three
or five days, any observations from
the German delegation on any points
of the treaty, we shall not wait until
the end of the Is days to give our ans
wer. We shall at once proceed in the
way indicated by this document"
NJ. Clemenceau spoke in French.
The German Reply.
Count Won Brockdorff- -Rantzau, head
of the German delegation, speaking in
German, said:
"Gentlemen: We are deeply i'm
pressed with the sublime task which
has brought us hither to give a dur
able peace to the world. We are un-
der 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 van
quishers may make US pay as the