plete direction. It
was unfortunate certainly that a congress which had started with the cry
of "open covenants" should thus find itself practically resolved into a
committee of four. Disappointed liberals have assumed that the inner
council was formed with the object of separating President Wilson from
contact with popular ideas and bringing him to acceptance of the
old-style peace desired by Clemenceau. In reality the Council of Four was
simply a revival of the informal committee which had sat during the
autumn of 1918, when Colonel House, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau had met
by themselves to formulate the policy to be adopted when Germany
presented her demand for an armistice. When Wilson left Paris in
February, Colonel House, who became chiefly responsible for the American
side of negotiations, found the Council of Ten unwieldy. It was attended
by as many as thirty or forty persons, some of whom seemed inclined to
spread colored accounts of what was going on, and the very size of the
meeting tended toward the making of speeches and the slowing-down of
progress. Furthermore, at that time Clemenceau, confined to his house by
the wound inflicted by a would-be assassin, was unable to attend the
sessions of the Council of Ten. It was natural, therefore, that the three
statesmen who had worked so effectively the preceding autumn should now
renew their private conferences. When Wilson returned to Paris in March,
and learned from Colonel House how much more rapidly the small committee
was able to dispose of vexatious questions, he readily agreed to it. Nor
is there any valid evidence extant to show that his influence was
seriously impaired by the change, although the sessions of the Council of
Four took on a greater appearance of secrecy than had been desired by
Colonel House.

The Council of Four acted as a board of review and direction rather than
of dictators. When the reports of the expert commissions were unanimous
they were generally accepted with little or no alteration. When a divided
report was sent up, the Four were compelled to reach a compromise, since
every delay threatened to give new opportunity to the forces of social
disorder in Germany and southeastern Europe. The Council met ordinarily
in the house used by President Wilson, on the Place des Etats-Unis. Some
of the conferences were held in a small room downstairs without the
presence of secretaries or advisers; frequently, however, the experts
were called