Thirty—­All merchant vessels in German hands belonging to the allied and associated powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.

Thirty-one—­No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.

Thirty-two—­The German government will notify the neutral governments of the world, and particularly the governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the allied and associated countries, whether by the German government or by private German interests, and whether in return for specific concessions, such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately canceled.

Thirty-three—­No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the armistice.

Thirty-four—­The duration of the armistice is to be thirty days, with option to extend.  During this period, on failure of execution of any of the above clauses, the armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours’ previous notice.

It is understood that the execution of articles three and eighteen shall not warrant the denunciation of the armistice on the ground of insufficient execution within a period fixed except in the case of bad faith in carrying them into execution.  In order to assure the execution of this convention under the best conditions the principle of a permanent international armistice commission is admitted.  This commission shall act under the authority of the allied military and naval commanders-in-chief.

Thirty-five—­This armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within seventy-two hours of notification.

PRESIDENT’S COMMENT ON ARMISTICE

“The war thus comes to an end; for, having accepted these terms of armistice, it will be impossible for the German command to renew it.

“It is not now possible to assess the consequences of this great consummation.  We know only that this tragical war, whose consuming flames swept from one nation to another until all the world was on fire, is at an end and that it was the privilege of our own people to enter it at its most critical juncture in such fashion and in such force as to contribute, in a way of which we are all deeply proud, to the great result.

“We know, too, that the object of the war is attained; the object upon which all free men had set their hearts; and attained with a sweeping completeness which even now we do not realize.

“Armed imperialism, such as the men conceived who were but yesterday the masters of Germany, is at an end, its illicit ambitions engulfed in black disaster.  Who will now seek to revive it?  The arbitrary power of the military caste of Germany, which once could secretly and of its own single choice disturb the peace of the world, is discredited and destroyed.