yet determined,
but would in due time be traced by the Conference, of which Italy was a
member. The decision would be arrived at after an exhaustive study, and
its probable consequences to Europe's peace would be duly considered. As
extreme circumspection was imperative before formulating a verdict, five
plenipotentiaries would seem better qualified than any one of them, even
though he were the wisest of the group. To remove the question from the
competency of the Conference, which was expressly convoked to deal with
such issues, and submit it to an individual, would be felt as a slight
on the Supreme Council. And so the matter dropped.

Signor Orlando knew that if he had adopted the suggestion and made Mr.
Wilson arbiter, Italy's hopes would have been promptly extinguished in
the name of the Fourteen Points, and her example held up for all the
lesser states to imitate. The President was, however, convinced that the
Italian people would have ratified the arrangement with alacrity. It is
worth recording that he was so sure of his own hold on the Italian
masses that, when urging Signor Orlando to relinquish his demand for
Fiume and the Dalmatian coast, he volunteered to provide him with a
message written by himself to serve as the Premier's justification.
Signor Orlando was to read out this document in Parliament in order to
make it clear to the nation that the renunciation had been demanded by
America, that it would most efficaciously promote Italy's best
interests, and should for that reason be ratified with alacrity. Signor
Orlando, however, declined the certificate and things took their course.

In Paris the Italian delegation made little headway. Every one admired,
esteemed, and felt drawn toward the first delegate, who, left to
himself, would probably have secured for his country advantageous
conditions, even though he might be unable to add Fiume to those secured
by the secret treaty. But he was not left to himself. He had to reckon
with his Minister of Foreign Affairs, who was as mute as an oyster and
almost as unsociable. Baron Sonnino had his own policy, which was
immutable, almost unutterable. At the Conference he seemed unwilling to
propound, much less to discuss it, even with those foreign colleagues on
whose co-operation or approval its realization depended. He actually
shunned delegates who would fain have talked over their common interests
in a friendly, informal way, and whose business it was to strike up