document without prejudice,
and in connection with the views expressed by American statesmen,
it becomes abundantly clear that the President regarded the terms
laid down by our enemies as maximum conditions, and further, that
he believed that we also would submit our maximum terms, and finally
come to an agreement by adopting a middle course.

Herr Helfferich makes a similar charge against Wilson's Note of
the 18th December, owing to the threats that it contained. But
this charge strikes me as being just as gratuitous as the first.
The threats were uttered in London quite as plainly as they were
in Berlin. The charge of partiality would have been justified only
if the threats had been contained simply in the version of the
Note which was sent to Berlin.

Besides, in all Entente countries, it was maintained that both
the Note of the 18th December and the appeal of the 22nd January
revealed partiality for the Central Powers. The diplomats of the
Entente in Washington were quite beside themselves with anger,
and plainly revealed their displeasure to Mr. Wilson. I am not
concerned now with criticizing the President's efforts for peace
in retrospect. The fact that Mr. Wilson became our personal enemy
after the 31st January, 1917, and that he consented to the Peace
of Versailles, is no proof of the contention that, before the 31st
January, 1917, he would have proved a similar failure as a peacemaker.
The President's spiteful censure and treatment of us, both during
the war and at Versailles, may be explained psychologically, by
the fact that we rejected his efforts as a mediator, and declared
the U-boat war.

Mr. Wilson's personal sensitiveness and egocentric nature played
an essential part in all the negotiations. When the French and
English Press derided the President, in November, 1916, after the
first cables had announced the election of Mr. Hughes, Mr. Wilson
was deeply mortified. A further improvement in his attitude towards
us followed, when we showed that we were favorably disposed to his
mediation for peace. The fact that Germany relied on him, stimulated
his self-esteem to such an extent that he became, to a certain degree,
interested in bringing about a peace that would be satisfactory
to Germany. Nor should the interest he showed in this matter be
underrated. I openly confess that it was also my ambition to assist
in restoring peace, in order to save our country from the catastrophe
that threatened to overtak