The execution of tire atvnistite vms a MIS tarp matter and fell under the jutiediction the Supreme War Council at Versailles, at tfle head of which was Minkel Foch, who -yeas not disposed to take a • sympathetie view of Germany's difficulties. In fact, no Frenchman felt disposed to be generous to a foe who had reduced France to the last stage of exhaustion. Germany was in sore distress, no doubt, but her factories were intact: her population and credit were badly smitten, but so were the population and credit of France. It had been' Germany's deliberate purpose in the war to reduce French industry to such a state that it could not recover in time fo get into the race before Germany had far outdistanced het. Should this design be allowed to have its sway? Prance and her Allies now had the whip hand: they -would be less than human if they did not use the opportunity to reduce the high-handed German plans. The French people demanded firm ussurances against the overtopping in dustrial power of Germany. Thus it happened that when the armistice period of 31 days came to an end there was a demand that it should not be renewed on the same terms. But good feeling- predominated and the terms were not changed materially when the period was ex tended to 17 Jan. 1919.
By the end of another month, however, the dissastisfaction in France was greater and the Germans were forced to agree to hand over to France 58,000 agricultural machines of various kinds and to allow the Allies to hold that part of the fortress of Strassburg that lies on the cast bank of the Rhine with the adjacent territory. In discussing these matters Erz berger, the head of the German commissioners, demanded of the Allied commissioners that a preliminary treaty should be made out and sub mitted to his country, which, he said, had de manded such a treaty six times already. The request was not granted and the German com missioners returned to Berlin feeling that new demands, they knew not how severe, might be made on them when the next day of renewal arrived on 17 February.
By this time the position of France in the negotiations was well defined. She looked for protection against future attacks by Germany; for with the time-honored Franco-Russian alliance gone, she naturally desired protection: against a foe in whom was great power of recuperation. She also was keen for getting as reparation every possible concession out of ;ermany. The reply to her denaand was that if erman industry was prostrated to benefit rench. industry Germany could not be ex pected to snake reparation for the damages done. Perhaps in the French demand there was a disposition to render German industry so weak that it would no longer be a formid able competitor of French industry; and the French, demand that the Saar coal fields be given to France and the Silesian fields to Poland seemed to support such a theory. To the American and British delegates this went be Ed the principle of a just peace, and they gan to act together for restraining France.
agreement of 17 January just mentioned was.allowed by them, partly because it seemed wise to satisfy the demand of the French farmers for machinery with which to begin their spring work, and partly because it seemed but a good precaution that U France held Strassburg west of the Rhine the opposite region should be clear of German soWiers. Be yond this they were unwilling to go at that time. , It was evident that as long as the armistice was in the hands of military men it would tettd to become more severe. Marshal Foch waS a stern commander and looked chiefly to ntilitary ends. Matters came to a crisis when on 8 February in a meeting of the Supreme Military Council, President Wilson moved the creation of a Supreme Economic Council to deal with the purely economic matters affecting the rela tions of the Entente and Teutonic Allies, the council to contain not more than five members from each of the interested states. The sug gestion had the approval of the British .8.nd not being opposed by the other delegttes it was adopted. The Supreme Military Council also voted to add two economic experts to the permanent commission which had the sulker vision of the execution of the armistice. At a conference held on the same day and at the same place it was agreed that 4,000,000 tons of German merchant ships, passenger and 1 reight., should be placed at the disposal of the Allie.s under a commission headed by E. N. Hurley to carry home American and Australian troops and to take food back to Europe. This was in accordance with the feature of thc armistice by which the Allies undertook to send food into Germany, if it was found to be needed there. Allied experts had been througlt Ger many by this time and reported that whili: there was sufficient food in the areas behind the for mer German army, there was great want in the interior, where the inhabitants showed the ef fects of the blockade very plainly-.
.The proposition to allow the German ships to take food to Europe brought up the tion of payment. It was the purpose of the Allies to allow the Germans to buy in Allied markets. But where were they to get the money for payment? The thrifty French saw at once that to pay money for food would be 'to reduce the funds that could be used im mediately for reparation purposes, and they ob jected to such proceedings. At this time the American Congress was considering a bill to make available a fund of $100,000,000 to fur nish food to the European countries that needed it. It was supposed at first that ,a part of the fund could he , used to aid the Germans and Austrians, but an amendment was added pro viding that none of the money appropriated should be used in aiding the enemies of the United States. This halted the negotiations where they were, die Germans steadfastly re fusing to hand over their ships until they were assured they would return to them with food.