CONTRIBUTIONS OF GEOGRAPHY 193 



problems of the peace settlement; and during certain periods 

 when these problems were actively under discussion, one of the 

 geographers would have daily morning conferences with the 

 Commissioners to discuss matters which would be debated in 

 the Supreme Council in the afternoon. At meetings of the 

 Supreme Council, of the Council of Ministers, and of those 

 Territorial commissions which did not already contain an 

 American geographer on their membership, one of our geo- 

 graphers was usually present as consulting expert when ter- 

 ritorial questions were on the agenda. 



The American delegation included in its organization a 

 Division of Geography charged with the highly important 

 task of supplying to the President and Commissioners not 

 only copies of published maps of every variety needed in their 

 deliberations, but in addition a never-ending series of new maps 

 to illustrate special problems and the recommendations of the 

 staff of experts ; and a Division of Boundary Geography which 

 scrutinized proposed new frontiers to determine whether they 

 were in harmony with the geographical conditions in the regions 

 affected, and to suggest such changes as topographic features, 

 economic relations, trade routes, lines of communication, and 

 other geographic elements might render advisable. Before a 

 boundary delimitation was written into a Treaty, its every 

 detail was passed upon by a geographical sub-commission. 

 There is therefore some reason for hoping that the execution 

 of the new treaties will not be hampered by the discovery of 

 such geographical blunders as diplomats have frequently per- 

 petrated in past peace conferences. 



The map-making establishments set up at Paris by certain of 

 the delegations bore witness to the importance attributed to 

 the cartographic work of the Conference. The facilities of 

 the Service Geographique were already at hand. In one end 

 of the Bois de Boulogne the British erected at great expense a 

 first-class establishment for the drafting and engraving of 

 maps of various types, and among other things handled part 

 of the work of printing the large-scale and small-scale maps 



