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Show Hun Representatives Affix Signatures in Historic Hall at Versailles. Ceremonies Marked by Absence of Ostentation, Teutons Being Frigidly Received. President Wilson First to Inscribe Name. Versailles. World peace was signed and sealed in the historic hall of mirrors' mir-rors' at Versules Saturday afternoon, but under circumstances which siiuic-wluit siiuic-wluit dimmed the expectations of those who had worked and fought during dur-ing long years of war and months of negotiations for its achievement. China Fails to Sign. The absence of the Chinese delegates, dele-gates, who at the last moment were unable to reconcile themselves to the Shantung settlement, and left the eastern east-ern empire outside the formal purviews pur-views of peace, struck the first discordant dis-cordant note in the assembly. A written writ-ten protest which General Jan Christian Chris-tian Smuts lodged with his signature was another disappointment to the makers of the treaty. Huns Received Chilly Reception. But, .bulking larger, w-as the attitude of Germany and the German plenipotentiaries, plenipo-tentiaries, which left them, as evident from the original program of the day and from the expression of M. Clemenceau, Clem-enceau, still outside any formal reconciliation re-conciliation and made actual restoration restora-tion to regular relations and intercourse inter-course with the allied nations dependent, depen-dent, not upon the signature of the "plenipotentiaries of peace," but upon ratification by the national assembly. Clemenceau Gives Stern Warning. To M. Ciemenceau's stern warning in his opening remarks that they would be expected, and held, to observe ob-serve th treaty provisions legally and completely, ' tlie . Germnn delegates, through Dr. Haniel von Hainihausen, replied after returning to the hotel that had they known they would be treated on a different status after signing than the allied representatives, as shown by their separate exit before be-fore the general body of the conference, confer-ence, they never would have signed. Under the circumstances the general gen-eral tone of sentiment in the historic sitting was one rather of relief at the uncontrovertible end of hostilities than of complete and unalloyed satisfaction. satisfac-tion. The ceremony had been planned deliberately de-liberately to b austere, befitting the sorrows and sufferings of almost five years and the lack of lmpressiveness and picturesque color, of which many spectators, who had expected a magnificent mag-nificent state pageant, complained, was a matter of design, not merely omission. Ceremony Ended in Less Than Hour. The actual ceremony was far shorter short-er than had been expected, in view of the number of signatures which were to be appended to the treaty and the two accompanying conventions, ending a bare forty-nine minutes after the hour set for the opening. The proceedings pro-ceedings were carried out without surface sur-face incidents, since the Germans were silent and the Chinese refusal to sign was evident only by the vacant chairs. The sole words to be recorded in the protocol of the conference were M. Ciemenceau's short opening allocution, with its brief, stern warning to the Germans, and his equally terse phrases declaring the ceremony closed. Germans First to Sign. Contrary to expectations, the Germans Ger-mans were called to sign first, and no precedence was given M. Clemenceau, President Wilson or Mr. Lloyd George, who in the peace treaty appear only as members of the respective delegations delega-tions and discard the dignities and responsibilities re-sponsibilities which during the negotiations nego-tiations were summed up in the phrase "the big three." The two German delegates arose without a word at M. Ciemenceau's bidding and placed upon the treaty the sign manuals which German government govern-ment leaders declared until recently never would be appended to it. Wilson Signs First for Allic-. When they regained their seats after signing, President Wilson immediately imme-diately arose, and. followed by the other' American plenipotentiaries, moved around the two sides of the great horseshoe to the signature tables. President; Wilson, and not M. Cli'inen-ceau. Cli'inen-ceau. thus had the honor of signing first of all the leaders of the world alliance. So many spectators had. in one man- ner or another, gained access to the hall, that the struggle for points of vantage at times approached the stage of a brawl, and the few officials entrusted en-trusted with keeping order had the greatest difficulty in securing even a semblance of order. A Dramatic Incident. The most dramatic moment connected connect-ed with the signing of world peace came unexpectedly and spontaenously at the conclusion of this greatest ceremony cere-mony in history, when Premier Clemenceau, Clem-enceau, President Wilson and Premier Lloyd George descended from the Hall of Mirriors to the terrace at the rear of the palace, where thousands of spectators spec-tators were massed. With the appearance of the three who have dominated the councils of the allies, there began a most remarkable remark-able and unprecedented demonstration. With cries of "Vive Clemenceau," "Vive Wilson," "Vive Lloyd George," dense crowds swept forward from all parts of the spacious terrace. In an instant the three were surrounded sur-rounded by struggling, cheering masses1 of people, fighting among themselves for a chance to get near the statesmen. states-men. Smuts Registers Protest. Three incidents were emphasized by the smoothness with which the ceremony cere-mony was conducted. The first of these was the failure of the Chinese delegation to sign. The second was the protest submitted by General Jan Christian Smuts, who declared the peace unsatisfactory. The third, unknown un-known to the general public, came from the Germans. When the program for the ceremony was shown to the German delegation, Herr von Haim-hausen, Haim-hausen, of the German delegation, went to Colonel Henri, French liaison officer, and protested. He said : "We can not admit that the German - -delegates' should enter the hall by a different door than the entente delegates; dele-gates; nor that military honors should be withheld. Had we known there would be such arrangements before, the delegates would not have come." After a conference with the French foreign minister, it was decided, as a compromise, to render military honors as the Germans left. Otherwise the program was not chanced. In his protest General Smufs declared de-clared that there were territorial settlements set-tlements which he believed would need revision, and that there were guarantees guaran-tees provided which, he hoped would soon be found out of harmony with the new peaceful temper and unarmed slais of the central powers. Punishment Punish-ment were also foreshadowed, he said, over which a calmer mood might yet prefer to pass the sponge of ob-. Iivion. |