On June 22nd the German Assembly ratified the Treaty, and on June 29th it was signed at Versailles by the German envoys. Mr. Lloyd George returned to England and eloquently defended the Treaty before Parliament, which unanimously ratified it on July 3rd. As far as Great Britain was concerned, Mr. Lloyd George had now achieved peace. ----- [125] For further particulars of the election see Chapter XXIV. [126] President Wilson brought with him four delegates, including Secretary Lansing, Colonel House, and one Republican, Mr. Henry White. M. Clemenceau was supported by General Foch, M. Pichon, M. Tardieu, and M. Loucheur. [127] See, for instance, Dr. Dillon’s very able book _The Peace Conference_ (Hutchinson & Co: London), _Peace Making in Paris_, by Sisley Huddleston (Fisher Unwin: London), _The Peace in the Making_, by H. Wilson Harris (The Swarthmore Press: London), and _The Economic Consequences of the Peace_, by John Maynard Keynes, C.B. (Macmillan & Co., London.) [128] See Appendix D. [129] Some of these reported speeches are even more mordant, as for instance—“President Wilson talks like the good Christ, but acts like Lloyd George.” [130] The Saar Valley was finally given to the League of Nations for fifteen years, giving the French the output of the mines. At the close of that period there is to be a plebiscite, but if the vote goes in favour of Germany the mines must be bought back by Germany from France. [131] See pp. 1240-2 of the Bullitt evidence: “Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate,” vol. ii. The minutes of the meeting are given. I give them in full in Appendix C in order to show Mr. Lloyd George’s point of view at this time. [132] See Mr. Bullitt’s statement to the Committee of Foreign Relations, United States Senate. “The Soviets undertook to accept proposals if made by the Allies not later than April 10th, 1919” (_Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations_, vol. ii. p. 1248). The proposals were not written down by the Bolshevists but conveyed through Mr. Bullitt, who placed them on record. [133] See Mr. Bullitt’s evidence, _Hearings Before the Committtee on_ _Foreign Relations, United States Senate_, vol. ii. p. 1246. Mr. Bullitt’s account of the conditions prevailing in Russia did not, of course, tally with other and more responsible evidence. [134] See Mr. Bullitt’s evidence, _Hearings Before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate_, vol. ii. pp. 1264-71, for full details. [135] See President Wilson’s first scheme in the Bullitt evidence. At the end of it nothing remained but a few clauses (_Hearings before the Committee on Foreign Relations, United States Senate_, vol. ii). [136] In framing the Second Treaty of Paris signed on November 20th, 1815, it was with the utmost difficulty that Wellington and Castlereagh prevented the Prussian and Austrian representatives from annexing Alsace-Lorraine. CHAPTER XXIV