52 THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.

of very great misapprehension. Many persons believethat the Armistice Terms constituted the first Contractconcluded between the Allied and Associated Powersand the German Government, and that we enteredthe Conference with our hands free, except so far asthese Armistice Terms might bind us. This was notthe case. To make the position plain, it is necessarybriefly to review the history of the negotiations whichbegan with the German Note of October 5, 1918,and concluded with President Wilson 's Note ofNovember 5, 1918.

On October 5, 1918, the German Governmentaddressed a brief Note to the President accepting theFourteen Points and asking for Peace negotiations.The President's reply of October 8 asked if he was tounderstand definitely that the German Governmentaccepted " the terms laid down" in the Fourteen Pointsand in his subsequent Addresses and "that its objectin entering into discussion would be only to agreeupon the practical details of their application." Headded that the evacuation of invaded territorymust be a prior condition of an Armistice. OnOctober 12 the German Government returned anunconditional affirmative to these questions;—" itsobject in entering into discussions would be only toagree upon practical details of the application ofthese terms." On October 14, having received thisaffirmative answer, the President made a furthercommunication to make clear the points: (1) that