There was an episode which has lately come to light connected with this passage which may be recounted as illustrating the pitfalls of the world. As M. Klotz only introduced his form of words as the Council was breaking up, it is likely that no undue attention was concentrated on it. But ill–fortune may dog any one, and the same state of affairs seems to have led to one of the scribes getting the words down wrong. Instead of _revendication_ which means _demand_, the word _renonciation_ which means _concession_ got written in the text handed to the Germans for signature.[101] This word was not so suitable. But M. Klotz suffered less inconvenience from this mistake than might have been expected; since at the Peace Conference no one noticed that the French text of the Armistice Agreement as officially circulated, which M. Klotz used in arguing before the Reparation Committee, agreed in its wording with what he had intended it to be and not with the text which Germany had actually signed. Nevertheless it is the word _renonciation_ which is still to be found in the official texts of the British and German Governments.[102] 2. The other line of argument raises more subtle intellectual issues and is not a mere matter of prestidigitation. If it be granted that our rights are governed by the terms of the Note addressed to Germany by President Wilson in the name of the Allies on November 5, 1918, the question depends on the interpretation of these terms. As Mr. Baruch and M. Tardieu have now published between them the greater part of the official reports (including very secret documents) bearing on the discussion of this problem during the Peace Conference, we are in a better position than before to assess the value of the Allies’ case. The pronouncements by the President which were to form the basis of Peace provided that there should be “no contributions” and “no punitive damages,” but the invaded territories of Belgium, France, Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro were to be restored. This did not cover losses from submarines or from air raids. Accordingly the Allied Governments, when they accepted the President’s formulas, embodied a reservation, on the point as to what “restoration” covered, in the following sentence: “By _it_ (_i.e._, restoration of invaded territory) they understand that compensation will be made by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and to their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea, and from the air.”