The terms of the peace are to be in accordance with the Addresses of the President, and the purpose of the Peace Conference is "to discuss the details of their application." The circumstances of the Contract were of an unusually solemn and binding character; for one of the conditions of it was that Germany should agree to Armistice Terms which were to be such as would leave her helpless.

Germany having rendered herself helpless in reliance on the Contract, the honor of the Allies was peculiarly involved in fulfilling their part and, if there were ambiguities, in not using their position to take advantage of them.
What, then, was the substance of this Contract to which the Allies had bound themselves?
An examination of the documents shows that, although a large part of the Addresses is concerned with spirit, purpose, and intention, and not with concrete solutions, and that many questions requiring a settlement in the Peace Treaty are not touched on, nevertheless, there are certain questions which they settle definitely.
It is true that within somewhat wide limits the Allies still had a free hand.

Further, it is difficult to apply on a contractual basis those passages which deal with spirit, purpose, and intention;--every man must judge for himself whether, in view of them, deception or hypocrisy has been practised.

But there remain, as will be seen below, certain important issues on which the Contract is unequivocal.
In addition to the Fourteen Points of January 18, 1918, the Addresses of the President which form part of the material of the Contract are four in number,--before the Congress on February 11; at Baltimore on April 6; at Mount Vernon on July 4; and at New York on September 27, the last of these being specially referred to in the Contract.

I venture to select from these Addresses those engagements of substance, avoiding repetitions, which are most relevant to the German Treaty.