The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-31

DerS or the supreme council:
 SUGGESTS REASONS
 For the reasons stated above I sug-
 gest;
 l. That the associated powers de-
 mand the complete disarmament and
 demobilization of the military an6
 navay forces of the enemy, leaving him only such internal force as may
 De considered necessary to the main
 senance or order in enemy territory.
 lh his implies the evacuation of all in-
 yaded territories and their evacua-
 .ton not by armed or partially armed men, but by disarmed men.
 The German army thus deprived of iss arms cannot fight, and being de- -nobihzed cannot again be called to- sether for the objects of this war l 7. That the associated powers in- l .oFm the enemy that there will be no dminution of their war aims which l will be submitted to full and req sonable discussion between the na- 1 tions associated in the war and that, even if the enemy himself is given a hearing. we will have to submit to | CTS shall finally decide to be neces- I sary to assure now and in the future the peace of world.
 1 Demands 15O Submarines | On the other hand in naval mat l ters the representatives of Great Britain do not consider sufficient the l delivery of 150 submarines demanded 1 by Marshal Foch and think that near 1 ly all the battleships and cruisers ought to be surrendered also. It is in these circumstances that the final discussion from October 27 to 91 be- gins l reproduce it's salient pas sages.
 True to the mission entrusted to him by President Wilson Mir House first of all asks Marshal Foch the following questions:
 Tell us M. le Marecha1, purely from the military point of view and without regard to any other consider ation, whether you would rather that the Germans should reject or accept the armistice on the lines we have just agreed upon"
 Marshal Foch answers:
 "The only aim of war is to obtain results. If the Germans sign an ar mistce on the general lines we have just determined we shall have ob- tained the result we seek. Our aims being accomplished. no one has the right to shed another drop of blood.r
 In other words, the commander-in- chief is of opinion that if the Ger mans accept the conditions laid down in his letter of October 23, and he still has his doubts upon this point it is necessary to conclude the ar mistice and cease the war without hesitation. The commander-in-c chi eff goes even further and. replying to the suggestions of General Bliss and of MT. Lloyd George, and to others of the same nature. firmly Insists on the danger of additional demands. He says:
 Nothing is easier than to propose and even to impose conditions on pa- per. It is simple and logical to de- mand the disarmament of the Ger man armies in the field. But how will you make sure of 1t? Will you pass through the German armies and occupy before them the Rhine cross ings? Consolidation? I am willing. But do you intend to occupy the whole of Germany? For if we do not occu- py the whole of Germany, we shall never be certain that demobilization has been carried out. As for the Ger man surface fleet. what do you fear from it? During the whole war only a few of it's units have ventured from their ports. The surrender of these units will be merely manifestation, which will please the public but noth- ing more. Why make the armistce harder for I repeat its sole object is to place Germany hors de combat"
 And Marshal Foch adds
 What will you do If the Germans after having accepted the severe and ample conditions that I propose, re- fuse to subscribe to the additional humiliations you suggest? Will you on that account run the risk of a renewal of hostilities with the useless sacrifice of thousands of lives?''
 That was the whole question. Would harsher terms prolong the war? For how many months? What would be the risks? Colonel House and Lloyd George were anxious-as was also M. Clemenceau--to obtain the maximum, so long as the military authorities considered the maximum necessary On october 2s they ask the comman- der-in chief to reply to these points. And Marshal Foch answers
 T am not in a position and no one Is in a nosition to give you an accurate forecast. It may last three months perhaps four or five Who Sr9Ns? How if cannot fix a d"te I can reply to the main ques- ton. On the main question I say this. the conditions laid down by your u.l tary advisers are the very condi- tions which we ought ito and could impose after the success of our further operations. So if the Ger mans accept them now. it is useless to go on fightirg"
 On October 3l the heads of gov ernments. assisted by Marshal Foch, decide upon the final text to be sub mitted to the supreme council of the allies which is to meet in the after noon of the same day. This text adopts all the proposals of the com mander-in-chief with few additions and specifications of details.
 On October 31 at o'clock the su- preme council meets at Versailles. There are present Clemenceau. Pichon, Lloyd George, Balfour, Orlando. Son- nino, House, Venizelos, vesnitch. Mar shal Foch, Admiral Wemyss. Gen. erals Sir Henry Wilson Bliss and De Robllant. M. Clemenceau calls on Marshal Foch who explains the mili- tary position created by the victories of the last months. He describes the position of the German army. after having stated it's losses. He says:
 "An army which for three months has been forced to retreat, and which can no longer react Is beaten army But all the same It persists in meth odical destruction, accepting battle everywhere.
 "The military disorganization of the enemy is an undoubted fact. But the struggle goes on and continues
 Continues Rattle Despite Winter
 After the Germans. the allies. Mar shal Foch expresses himself thus: