Jasper County Democrat, Volume 22, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1919 — MEET GERMANS AT VERSAILLES [ARTICLE]

MEET GERMANS AT VERSAILLES

U. S. Envoys In Committee Sent to Receive the Credentials ot Foe. All READY FOR CONGRESS PMkW Tnnty Will Be C’ouimunicat«xl to Berlin Delegate* Monday To Meet in IMning Room of Hotel Trianon. Versailles. Mny 2.—The first official meeting between representatives of the allies nnd the German peace delegatee was held at 3 o’clock In the afternoon. A committee from the allies nnd the United States received the German credential*. George N. Barnes, of the British peace delegation, and Jules Caiubon, of the French delegation, examined the credentials of the German envoys. Tables Ready for Congress. The specious dining room of the Hotel Trlaiwn received its peace congress installation —three long tables in horseshoe form, covered with the traditional green cloth of diplomacy and games of hasard. The Installation Is imposing in the else of the side tables, which extend about forty or fifty feet through the room. At the head of the apartment is a table about thirty-five feet long at which the representatives of the great powers will be seated with President Poincare or Premier Clemenceau 4n the center. Inside the horseshoe is another table covered with red plush and in the space between one side of the horseshoe nnd the windows Is a similar table. In the window openings are a number of smaller square tables for secretaries.

Scene for Handing Over Terms. This Is n scene for the handing over of the terms of peace. The French government has carefully abstained from naming the day of the ceremony, either to the public or to functionaries Instructed with arrangements, nnd It Is n fair presumption that this is due not only to the problem whether the Intervening time will be long enough to verify the credentials of the German plenipotentiaries, but also the uncertainty ns to when the draft of the treaty will be ready. Questions relative to the adequacy of the powers of the German delegates and their qualifications to apeak for Bavaria, which came to the front during the day, mny furnish nn occasion for deferring the handing oyer of the treaty. German Delegates Take Stroll. All the German delegates, including Count von Brockdorff-Rantzau, the foreign minister, were out foj a brief stroll despite the inclement weather. The afternoon was chiefly devoted to preparations for the congress. There was a busy coming and going of subordinates between the three hotels occupied by the mission. The Germans excite little curiosity in Versailles and passersby rub elbows with the Teutonic visitors, scarcely taking note of them as they pass. All Ready for Peace Conference. Paris, May 2.—The opinion prevails in peace conference circles that the peace preliminaries will be communicated to Jhe Germans next Monday afternoon.