week; and in view of the uncompromising front presented by Germany and Great Britain, and the probability of a continuance of the war to the bitter end, the world was thrown into a state of profound despondency and foreboding.
The next session was marked by the most dramatic incident of the whole conference. No sooner had the meeting been declared open than the German plenipotentiary abruptly announced that he had received instructions from Berlin to state that, if no more mention were made of the dismemberment of her fleet, Germany would agree to pay an indemnity to the Allies of fifteen billion dollars, and give the customary pledges therefor.
The curt announcement of Germany's assumption of this stupendous obligation produced, even in that well-poised assembly, a barely-checked murmur of astonishment. The British plenipotentiary
