The French Government designated M. Paul Morel, the French Undersecretary of Finance for the Liquidation of War Stocks, to represent it in the negotiations with the Commission. On April 7, 1919, it was agreed in principle that France would buy the American _installations_, at any rate, at a price still to be fixed, the French assuming all charges and claims against the installations. The French were not so sure about the movables. M. Morel first proposed that the French Government pick out what it wanted and negotiate a price for the selection. But this would have skimmed the cream of the American property and left the A. E. F. with large quantities of unsalable materials which in all likelihood would eventually have become fuel for bonfires. This proposal was therefore rejected, and the French representatives were urged as a duty to buy all the movables in bulk, since the French people could use practically all the supplies. M. Morel, after consultation with his principals, eventually agreed to buy all the stocks at a price to be fixed. Came the question then of the price. M. Morel’s first bid was 1,500,000,000 francs. Reckoning the value of francs then at ten to the dollar, that was an offer of $150,000,000, an offer firmly rejected. This was followed by other offers which our representatives could not entertain. The negotiations, which had begun early in April, continued throughout the spring and the fore part of the summer. M. André Tardieu and other eminent Frenchmen entered the conferences in July. On July 24 a tentative agreement was reached, and its terms were practically those of the bulk-sale contract, which was dated August 1, 1919.