"I speak truth, not so much as I would, but as much as I dare; and I dare a little the more as I grow older." -MONTAIGNE. THE PASSING OF THE NEW CHAPTER I MR. WILSON EXPLAINS THE NEW FREEDOM Quam parva sapienta regitur mundus. SCENE: Paris. PLACE: Premier's Room, Quai d'Orsay. TIME: January 15, 1919. [As the curtain rises PREMIER CLEMENCEAU, PRIME MINISTER LLOYD GEORGE and BARON MAKINO are seated around a council table. They are looking over a map, and drawing the lines of the new boundaries. PICHON and BALFOUR are also present, but take little part in the discussion and thus recognize that once again the destinies of the world are for a time in the keeping of a new triumvirate, Clemenceau, Lloyd George and Wilson.] CLEMENCEAU. We are, then, agreed as to the division of Germany's overseas dominions. The Pacific islands north of the equator are to go to Japan; those to the south shall be given to Great Britain, together with Germany's possessions in Africa and a protectorate over Persia and Mesopotamia. France will have its compensation in Syria, Morocco, and the Rhine frontier, including the Sar Basin. To Italy are given the Dalmatian littoral and the Trentino. LLOYD GEORGE[Leaning back with the satisfied smile of one who has had a good meal.] Is not this the greatest real estate transaction since the Almighty gave. Adain a fee to the world? CLEMENCEAU. You forget that Cæsar, Pompey and Crassus divided the world. BALFOUR. Did not Pope Alexander VI also draw a longitudinal line through the Atlantic Ocean and divide the unknown Western World between Spain and Portugal? LLOYD GEORGE. How long did it last? MAKINO. My honorable confreres must not forget that, in deference to our illustrious American colleague's views, we only take the larger tracts of land as mandatories. [All laugh heartily.] LLOYD GEORGE. You laugh at the scheme of mandatories; but it cost me much to reconcile President Wilson with Premier Hughes on this point. Our difficulties are unusually complicated by these new statesmen from the four corners of the earth. CLEMENCEAU. Mandatories! Mon dieu! Great is the legerdemain of language. Our American colleague blandly tells us, who have sacrificed millions of lives and billions of treasure, that there are to be no annexations or indemnities. We defer to his views by calling annexations "mandatories" and the indemnities “reparations." However, our beneficial enjoyment of the territories thus acquired will be the same whether our title be absolute or nominally in trust. MAKINO. Does not my honorable confrère forget the League of Nations to which the mandatory is to be responsible? [Renewed laughter, in which all join.] CLEMENCEAU. I confess I at first opposed the League of Nations; but I now see that, as a camouflage for the old diplomacy, it is not without its merit. MAKINO. But should we not, for form's sake, offer something to the United States? CLEMENCEAU. When, in any conference, was anything offered to a nation that did not ask for it? President Wilson, with or without his country's approval, has asked no territorial compensation for the sacrifices which the United States has made to win the war. we not justified in taking him at his word? Are MAKINO. Still, as a matter of form, would it not be advisable to have America participate in the spoils of the victory? CLEMENCEAU. There is much force in that suggestion. [They examine a map of the Pacific Ocean.] CLEMENCEAU. Eureka! Here is an island that we have overlooked. It rejoices in the singular name of Yap. Have either of your Excellencies ever heard of Yap? LLOYD GEORGE. I confess that I have not. But then, I never heard of Teschen until some of our smaller allies quarreled among themselves as to this part of Europe. CLEMENCEAU. Well, as the island of Yap has not been distributed, I suggest that we offer it to Mr. Wilson. LLOYD GEORGE and MAKINO. Agreed. LLOYD GEORGE. For good measure, let us also give the United States a mandatory over Armenia. As even the boundaries of that mountainous desert have not yet been determined, let our American colleagues define them. Do we want Armenia? CLEMENCEAU. It is a liability, not an asset. Give it to the great idealist. LLOYD GEORGE. The territory of a considerable portion of the world being thus happily disposed of, our chief difficulty will be in adjusting the frontiers of Europe, and especially in the creation of new boundaries in Southeastern Europe. I fear that our smaller allies may quarrel among themselves to our embarrassment. CLEMENCEAU. They are like a lot of hens being held by the feet and carried to market-although all doomed to the same fate, they contrive to fight each other while awaiting it. LLOYD GEORGE. May not our chief difficulty be to adjust the inevitable differences as to boundaries between Jugo-Slavia and Italy? We have made some progress in the division of the Adriatic littoral; but have apparently reached the limit of concessions. It looks to me as if the fatal difference will be with reference to Fiume. MAKINO. Is it likely that our American colleague will wish to be consulted upon this question? CLEMENCEAU. Why should he? When did a sane statesman ever interfere in a quarrel between other |