The Allies went on to explain in this eloquent letter
that the territorial cessions required were based on nationality. One of the " Fourteen Points " was the reconstitution of Poland with free and eeenre access to the sea, and therefore Danzig was to be made a free city, severed from Germany. A plebiscite would be taken in Upper Silesia to remove any doubt as to the wishes of the inhabitants, two-thirds of whom, according to the last German Census, are Poles. The Saar Valley was not annexed to France, but would be controlled by the League of Nations. The inhabitants of Malmedy and of Slesvig would vote on the proposed transfer of these districts to their former States from which Prussia took them by force. The ex-German colonies could not be restored ; the natives did not wish to revert to Germany, who had shown herself unfit to rule over them. The Allies had modified the details of the reparation clauses, and would allow Germany to make a definite offer for a final settle- ment within six months. Germany could not be admitted to the League of Nations until the German people by their actions gave evidence of a change of heart.