German towns but forbids German vessels to trade
between non-German towns except with special permission; and Art. 333,
which prohibits Germany from making use of her river system as a source
of revenue, may be injudicious.

[69] The Niemen and the Moselle are to be similarly treated at
a later date if required.

[70] Art. 338.

[71] Art. 344. This is with particular reference to the Elbe
and the Oder; the Danube and the Rhine are dealt with in relation to the
existing Commissions.

[72] Art. 339.

[73] Art. 357.

[74] Art. 358. Germany is, however, to be allowed some payment
or credit in respect of power so taken by France.

[75] Art. 66.

CHAPTER V

REPARATION

I. _Undertakings given prior to the Peace Negotiations_

The categories of damage in respect of which the Allies were entitled to
ask for Reparation are governed by the relevant passages in President
Wilson's Fourteen Points of January 8, 1918, as modified by the Allied
Governments in their qualifying Note, the text of which the President
formally communicated to the German Government as the basis of peace on
November 5, 1918. These passages have been quoted in full at the
beginning of Chapter IV. That is to say, "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." The limiting quality of this sentence is reinforced by the
passage in the President's speech before Congress on February 11, 1918
(the terms of this speech being an express part of the contract with the
enemy), that there shall be "no contributions" and "no punitive
damages."

It has sometimes been argued that the preamble to paragraph 19[76] of
the Armistice Terms, to the effect "that any future claims and demands
of the Allies and the United States of America remain unaffected," wiped
out all precedent conditions, and left the Allies free to make whatever
demands they chose. But it is not possible to maintain that this casual
protective phrase, to which no one at the time attached any particular
importance, did away with all the formal communications which passed
between the President and the German Government as to the basis of the
Terms of Peace during the days preceding the Armistice, abolished the
Fourteen Points, and converted the German acceptance of the Armistice
Terms into unconditional surrender, so far as it affects the Financial
Cl