Arthur L. Frothingham
Handbook of War Facts and Peace Problems

CHAPTER VIII.

ILLUSTRATIVE EXTRACTS

The Allied Peace Terms of January, 1917.

Their (the Allies') objects in the war are well known; they have been formulated on many occasions by the chiefs of their divers governments. Their objects will not be made known in detail, with all the equitable compensation and indemnities for damage suffered, until the hour of negotiations.

But the civilized world knows that they imply, in all necessity and in the first instance, the restoration of Belgium, of Serbia, and of Montenegro, and the indemnities which are due them; the evacuation of the invaded territories of France, of Russia, and of Rumania, with just reparation; the reorganization of Europe, guaranteed by a stable regime and founded as much upon respect of nationalities and full security and liberty of economic development, which all nations, great or small, possess, as upon territorial conventions and international agreements, suitable to guarantee territorial and maritime frontiers against unjustified attacks; the restitution of provinces or territories wrested in the past from the Allies by force or against the will of their populations; the liberation of the Italians, of Slavs, of Rumanians, and of Czecho-Slovaks from foreign domination; the enfranchisement of populations subject to the bloody tyranny of the Turks; the expulsion from Europe of the Ottoman empire, decidedly alien to western civilization. The intentions of his majesty the emperor of Russia regarding Poland have been clearly indicated in the proclamation which he has just addressed to his armies.

It goes without saying that if the Allies wish to liberate Europe from the brutal covetousness of Prussian militarism it never has been their design, as has been alleged, to encompass the extermination of the German peoples and their political disappearance.---(Answer of the Allied Governments to the American Peace Note of December 19, 1916, presented January, 10, 1917. It is supplemented by a subsequent address of Lloyd George.)

President Wilson's Fourteen Peace Conditions. (Jan. 8, 1918.)

The program of the world's peace, therefore, is our program, and that program, the only possible program, as we see it. is this:

I. Open covenants of peace, openly arrived at, after which there shall be no private international understandings of any kind but diplomacy shall proceed always frankly and in the public view.

II. Absolute freedom of navigation upon the seas, outside territorial waters, alike in peace and in war, except as the seas may be closed in whole or in part by international action for the enforcement of international covenants.

III. The removal, so far as possible, of all economic barriers and the establishment of an equality of trade conditions among all the nations consenting to the peace, and associating themselves for its maintenance.

IV. Adequate guarantees given and taken that the national armaments will be reduced to the lowest point consistent with domestic safety.

V. A free, open-minded, and absolutely impartial adjustment of all colonial claims, based upon a strict observance of the principle that in determining all such questions of sovereignty the interests of the populations concerned must have equal weight with the equitable claims of the government whose title is to be determined.

VI. The evacuation of all Russian territory and such a settlement of all questions affecting Russia as will secure the best and freest co-operation of the other nations of the world in obtaining for her an unhampered and unembarrassed opportunity for the independent determination of her own political development and national policy and assure her of a sincere welcome into the society of free nations under institutions of her own choosing; and, more than a welcome, assistance also of every kind that she may need and may herself desire. The treatment accorded Russia by her sister nations in the months to come will be the acid test of their good-will, of their comprehension of her needs as distinguished from their own interests, and of their intelligent and unselfish sympathy.

VII. Belgium, the whole world will agree, must be evacuated and restored, without any attempt to limit the sovereignty which she enjoys in common with all other free nations. No other single act will serve as this will serve to restore confidence among the nations in the laws which they have themselves set and determined for the government of their relations with one another. Without this healing act the whole structure and validity of international law is forever impaired.

VIII. All French territory should be freed and the invaded portions restored, and the wrong done to France by Prussia in 1871 in the matter of Alsace-Lorraine, which has unsettled the peace of the world for nearly fifty years, should be righted in order that peace may once more be made secure in the interest of all.

IX. A readjustment of the frontier of Italy should be effected along clearly recognizable lines of nationality.

X. The peoples of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity of autonomous development.

XI. Rumania, Serbia, and Montenegro should be evacuated, occupied territories restored, Serbia accorded free and secure access to the sea, and the relations of the several Balkan States to one another determined by friendly counsel along their topographically established lines of allegiance and nationality, and international guarantees of the political and economic independence and territorial integrity of the several Balkan states should be entered into.

XII. The Turkish portions of the present Ottoman Empire should be assured a secure sovereignty, but the other nationalities which are now under Turkish rule should be assured an undoubted security of life and an absolutely unmolested opportunity of autonomous development, and the Dardanelles should be permanently opened as a free passage to the ships and commerce of all nations under international guarantees.

XIII. An independent Polish state should be erected which should include the territories inhabited by indisputably Polish populations, which should be assured a free and secure access to the sea, and whose political and economic independence and territorial integrity should be guaranteed by international covenant.

XIV. A general association of nations must be formed under specific covenants for the purpose of according mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small states alike.---(President Wilson's Address to Congress, Jan. 8, 1918.)

President Wilson's Five Points of Sept. 27, 1918.

1. The impartial justice meted out must involve no discrimination between those to whom we wish to be just and those to whom we do not wish to be just. It must be a justice that plays no favorites and knows no standard but the equal rights of the several peoples concerned.

2. No special or separate interests of any single nation or any group of nations can be made the basis of any part of the settlement which is not consistent with the common interest of all.

3. There can be no leagues or alliances or special covenants and understandings within the general and common family of the League of Nations.

4. And more specifically---There can be no special selfish economic combinations within the League and no employment of any form of economic boycott or exclusion except as the power of economic penalty by exclusion from the markets of the world be vested in the League of Nations itself as a means of discipline and control.

5. All international agreements and treaties of every kind must be made known in their entirety to the rest of the world.----(President Wilson's Address at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York.)

Germany's Request for Peace by. Negotiation,
To President Wilson, Oct. 6, 1918.

The German government requests the President of the United States to take in hand the restoration of peace, acquaint all the belligerent states of this request, and invite them to send plenipotentiaries for the purpose of opening negotiations.

It accepts the programme set forth by the President of the United States in his message to Congress on January 8 and in his later pronouncements, especially his speech of September 27, as a basis for peace negotiations.

With a view to avoiding further bloodshed the German government requests the immediate conclusion of an armistice on land and water and in the air.

Reply to German Peace Note.

Before making reply to the request of the Imperial German government. . . . the President of the United States deems it necessary to assure himself of the exact meaning of the note of the Imperial Chancellor. Does the Imperial Chancellor mean that the Imperial German government accepts the terms laid down by the President in his address to the Congress of the United States on the 8th of January last and in subsequent addresses, and that its object in entering into discussions would be only to agree upon the practical details of their application?

The President feels bound to say with regard to the suggestion of an armistice that he would not feel at liberty to propose a cessation of arms to the governments with which the Government of the United States is associated against the Central Powers so long as the armies of those powers are upon their soil. The good faith of any discussion would manifestly depend upon the consent of the Central Powers immediately to withdraw their forces everywhere from invaded territory.

The President also feels he is justified in asking whether the Imperial Chancellor is speaking merely for the constituted authorities of the empire who have so far conducted the war. He deems the answer to these questions vital from every point of view.---(President Wilson's Note, Oct. 8, 1918.)

The Allied Note Agreeing to Negotiate for Peace.

The Allied governments have given careful consideration to the correspondence which has passed between the President of the United States and the German government. Subject to the qualifications which follow, they declare their willingness to make peace with the government of Germany on the terms of peace laid down in the President's address to Congress of January, 1918, and the principles of settlement enunciated in his subsequent addresses.

They must point out, however, that clause II. relating to what is usually described as freedom of the seas, is open to various interpretations, some of which they could not accept. They must, therefore, reserve to themselves complete freedom on this subject when they enter the peace conference.

Further in the conditions of peace laid down in his address to Congress of January 8, 1918, the President declared that invaded territories must be restored as well as evacuated and freed. The Allied governments feel that no doubt ought to be allowed to exist as to what this provision implies. By it they understand that compensation will be made by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the Allies and their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea, and from the air.

I am instructed (Secretary Lansing adds) by the President to say that he is in agreement with the interpretation set forth in the last paragraph of the memorandum above quoted. I am further instructed by the President to request you to notify the German government that Marshal Foch has been authorized by the government of the United States and the Allied governments to receive properly accredited representatives of the German government and communicate to them terms of an armistice.---(Memorandum of the Allied governments communicated to Germany on Nov. 5, 1918, through the Swiss minister, by Secretary of State Lansing, with note of U. S. government-replying to the Fourth German Note of Oct. 27, sent by the New German Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Solf.)

German Theory of the Freedom of the Seas
is Sea Domination in War Time

What do we Germans understand by the "Freedom of the Seas?" Of course we do not mean by it that free use of the sea which is the common privilege of all nations in times of peace, the right to the open highways of international trade. What we understand today by this doctrine is that Germany should possess such maritime territories and such naval bases that at the outbreak of a war we should be able, with our navy ready, reasonably to guarantee to ourselves the command of the seas, We want such a jumping-off place for our navy as would give us a fair chance of dominating the seas and of being free of the seas during a war.

The inalienable possession of the Belgian seaboard is therefore a matter of life and death to us, and the man is a traitor who would faint-heartedly relinquish this coast to England. Our aim must be not only to keep what our arms have already won on this coast, but sooner or later to extend our seaboard to the south of the Strait of Calais (i.e. the English Channel.)(Authoritative statement by Count Reventlow, in March, 1917, to the audience at the Philharmonic Hall, Berlin, N. Y. Times Current History, November, 1917.)

For Those Who think Germany Has Been Treated Severely.

. . . Consider the peace that the kaiser, supported by a practically unanimous Germany, thought they were about to impose.

The programme was set out on June 30, 1918, in the twelve articles publicly announced in behalf of the dominant Pan-Germans by Count Roon, son of the Prussian war minister who organized the Hohenzollern victory of 1871.

1. No armistice until British forces were out of France and Paris occupied.

2. Annexation of Belgium and the channel coast to south of Calais.

3. Annexation of the Briey-Longwy iron region.

4. Annexation of Belfort, Toul, and Verdun, and all French territory east of these forts.

5. Return of German colonies.

6. Surrender by Great Britain of coaling stations, including Gibraltar.

7. Surrender to Germany of the entire British navy.

8. Egypt and the Suez canal to Turkey.

9. Restoration of Constantine as King of Greece.

10. Division of Serbia between Austria- Hungary and Bulgaria.

11. Payment of indemnity of $45,000,000,000 by the United States, Great Britain, and France.

12. Occupation of French territories until agreements were carried out, costs of occupation of being met by the enemy.

In addition, as a matter of course, treaties with Russia and Rumania were to stand, with Poland, Courland, Lithuania, Livonia, and Esthonia practically annexed, and Finland, the Ukraine, and Rumania to be subject kingdoms.---(N. Y. Globe, Nov. 9, '18. Similar statements of German aims were made by Erzberger and other leading Germans.)

Shall Germany Get Back Her Colonies?

[Germany complained that all the best morsels in the world had already been greedily appropriated by other nations, especially England. Hence her especial hatred of England, and her determination to destroy England's colonial empire, a plan elaborated in many Pan-German writings. Meanwhile before the war Germany took Ching-tao (Kiao-chow Bay) from China and turned it into a commercial fortress; got part of Samoa and New Guinea and planned to proclaim part of Brazil a colony. She dragooned France through the threat of war at the time of the Morocco controversy into handing over to her large tracts in Africa. She collected her colonies between 1884 and 1899.

The attitude taken by the English in regard to the two groups of German colonies is that, in view of the fact that the natives are quite incapable of self-government and of making an intelligent decision, the decision should be left to those self-governing groups that are the nearest and the most closely affected. That means that in the case of the African colonies of Germany, the decision as to their destiny should reside in the democracies of the South African Confederacy, which includes the Boers; because not only was it their troops that conquered these German colonies but also because they are the chief country concerned in regard to their future, and, in the case of the islands of the Australasian group of the Pacific, it should reside in the Australian commonwealths, who would be affected by the way in which these islands are developed.

At the same time there can be no doubt that if the black tribes were given their choice of being under German or British control they would choose Great Britain.

The German Colonies Were:

Of the total population only 27,339 are white (report for 1912), and of these 14,816 are in Africa. This proves the falsity of the claim Germany made that she needed colonies for the overflow of her excess population.]

Germany's Inhuman Treatment of Her African Colonies

A report containing evidences of the brutal methods employed by Germany in the administration of her colonies in Africa was made public September 12, 1918, by Edmond H. L. Gorges, acting Secretary of the Interior, Union of South Africa. It constitutes the British Government's reply to Dr. W. S. Solf, the German Secretary of State for the Colonies, that Germany would demand the return of her colonies at the peace conference.

The evidence is taken from official German documents at Windhook, from sworn statements by native chiefs, by Europeans familiar with the country and from the writings of Gov. Leutwein (who held office from 1894 to 1905), Dr. Paul Rohrbach, Dr. Karl Dove, and others. Altogether the report refutes in detail Dr. Solf's assertion that "Germany's pre-war humane treatment of the native races won for her the moral right to be a great colonial power."

"The native opinion is unanimously against any idea of their ever being handed back to the tender mercies of Germany," says acting Secretary Gorges. "Any suggestion of the possibility of an act of this kind on the part of Great Britain produces the utmost consternation."

The report shows that the first twenty-five" years of German rule in Southwest Africa was an unbroken record of official bad faith, private oppression, cruelty, barbarities and robberies, culminating in the Herero and Hottentot rebellions. During the first seventeen years there was no law for the natives. Such protection as the law eventually provided indicated consideration of humanity, but the order to exploit the natives as laborers remained.

When the Germans first arrived, says this report, they entered into agreements with the native chiefs but these became "scraps of paper" and the natives were fraudulently deprived of their best land. Traders and settlers robbed them of their cattle, which was their only wealth, and the law subsequently prevented the natives from possessing large herds of stock. The natives were thus driven to work at ridiculously inadequate wages and often never were paid. They were treated like slaves and their women folks were habitually maltreated by the Germans who took them into forced concubinage.

In the resulting rebellions the Hereros were reduced from eighty thousand to fifteen thousand one hundred, the Hottentots from twenty thousand to nine thousand eight hundred. Thus 80 % of the Herero people disappeared and more than half of the Hottentots and Berg-Damaras shared the same fate. It was done by superseding the lenient Gov. Leutwein by the notorious Gov. Trotha fresh from Germany to East Africa, where he suppressed the Arab rebellion by a wholesale massacre. Gov. Trotha issued an "extermination order," the terms of which provided that no Herero man, woman, child, or baby was to receive mercy or quarter. "Kill every one of them; take no prisoners."

From the records of German courts it is clear that native evidence was habitually disregarded and that the natives were not allowed to give evidence on oath. The natives thus were kept in a state of fear. No opportunity of redress was open to them and they dared not go to the police with complaints.

Gruesome photographs are given in the report, of hangings and floggings of natives. Hanging was a habit with the administrators of native affairs, as also was flogging, which was done in the most cruel manner, with a long sjambok, capable of causing the gravest injury or death, and as many as fifty strokes were given at a time.---(Summarized from Report by the Union of South Africa, published in N. Y. Sun Sept. 13, 1918. Further frightful details in article by eye-witness, Ida V. Simonton, in N. Y. Sun Sept. 22, 1918. A careful and temperate indictment of German methods is given in "The Black Slaves of Prussia," by Frank Weston, Bishop of Zanzibar.)

The Criminals at the Bar.

A Special Commission was appointed by the Peace Conference to determine the responsibility of the kaiser and other German military and civil authorities for the crimes committed by the Germans in the territory they occupied. A report was handed in by Liautard, Dean of the Faculty of Law, and De la Pradelle, Professor of International Law of the University of Paris, which concludes that the kaiser is answerable both in penal and civil law for these crimes. These crimes are catalogued as follows:

1. Massacre of civilians.
2. Killing of hostages.
3. Torture of civilians.
4. Starvation of civilians.
5. Rape.
6. Abduction of girls and women for purposes of enforced prostitution.
7. Deportation of civilians.
8. Internment of civilians under brutal conditions.
9. Forced labor of civilians in connection with military operations of the enemy.
10. Usurpation of sovereignty under military occupation.
11. Compulsory enlistment among inhabitants of occupied territory.
12. Pillage.
13. Confiscation of property.
14. Exaction of illegitimate or of exorbitant contributions and requisitions.
15. Debasement of currency and issue of spurious currency.
16. Imposition of collective penalties.
17. Wanton devastation and destruction of property.
18. Bombardment of undefended places.
19. Wanton destruction of religious, charitable, educational, and historical buildings and monuments.
20. Destruction of merchant ships and passenger vessels without examination and without warning.
21. Destruction of fishing-boats and of a relief-ship.
22. Bombardment of hospitals.
23. Attack on and destruction of hospital-ships.
24. Breach of other rules relating to the Red Cross.
25. Use of deleterious and asphyxiating gases.
26. Use of explosive and expanding bullets.
27. Orders to give no quarter.
28. Ill-treatment of prisoners of war.
29. Misuses of flags of truce.
30. Poisoning of wells.

A list has also been issued of specific crimes that can be proved against different German generals and officers in Belgium, Northern France, Poland, etc. The feeling of the Conference was unquestionably in favor of making the guilty suffer, not only for the sake of just retribution but because of its effect on the mind of unrepentant Germany and the rest of the world. ---(Adapted from Literary Digest, April 26, 1919.)

[Section VII of the Peace Treaty specifies how these crimes shall be punished.]

Germany's Loot and its Restitution.

[The Germans have withdrawn within their borders gorged with the loot of half the rest of the world, from the clothing and furniture and ornaments of millions of houses, to the contents of palaces, churches, factories, museums, and galleries. Where ever this can be done the loot is being traced and returned and some equivalent is to be given for all that cannot be returned. Works of painting and sculpture in Austrian and German collections are being taken as a slight equivalent for destroyed churches, town halls, galleries and museums, German homes and institutions are being searched for loot, of which the Allied authorities have detailed lists. This will be one of the tasks to follow the Peace Conference. The resurrection of the German destroved industries of Belgium, Northern France, Poland, and the Baltic can be hastened by the return of all their stolen machinery and raw and manufactured material, as well as the return of the indemnities inflicted and the bank deposits carried away, a restitution that was commenced at once, or of their equivalents.]

Germany's Reparation.

[The immensity and the necessity of reparation by Germany are not realized in the United States except in part by some of our returned soldiers. The problem is to give Germany the chance to be a wealth-producing nation and to use this wealth for a number of years to repair the destruction it has committed. This problem is one of tremendous difficulty. Some are advocating the use on a large and systematic scale of German labor to rebuild the destroyed towns and villages. German prisoners have been used for this work.

German manufacturers and commerce must be allowed to develop as much as possible without injuring the business of allied countries, in order to provide a basis for the enormous payments to the Allies.

The greatest financial and industrial experts of the world are planning how to keep Germany from bankruptcy while she contributes all she can be made to toward the reconstruction of the invaded lands.]

[Section VIII of the Peace Treaty lays down the terms of reparation, and specifies the ways for exacting them from Germany.]

A German's Sentiments.

The German people will not be able to repair the grievous crimes committed against its own present and future and against that of Europe and the whole human race until it is represented by different men with a different mentality. To tell the truth it is mere justice that its reputation throughout the whole world is as bad as it is. The triumph of its methods ---the methods by which it has hitherto conducted the war both militarily and politically---would constitute a defeat for the ideas and the supreme hopes of mankind. . . . (Wilhelm Muehlon, former Director in Krupp's, in letter to German Chancellor Helfferich, May 7, 1917.)

What Kind of Peace?

Let us suppose that the new Europe of which men have dreamed were established . . .not at the dictation of a conquering army, but by the permission of those which the army had hoped to defeat and had failed to defeat. What would be the effect upon the soul of Europe? What would be the effect upon its will, its traditions, its ideals, above all, what would be the effect upon its future of such a surrender, for surrender it would be?

In the first place Prussia and the Germany which she has indoctrinated would say with justice, "All the world came against us. Upon the East we were victorious, for we dissolved the political cohesion of our enemies there. Upon the West blow upon blow was met with entire resistance, and we emerged from the great ordeal triumphant. The German people, inclined in some measure to regard their crimes as the universal conscience regards them, will be able to say, "Yes, we did ill, but we did it in a good cause and the Prussian nation has survived." --- (Hilaire Belloc, "Effect of a Peace With. out Victory"---America at War, 352.)

A League of Nations.

A close federation of the nations now fighting the good fight will be the only insurance against the autocracy that made this war possible and the horrors that the armies of the autocrat perpetrated on innocent non-combatants. The world must be made free for democracy.---(Lord Northcliffe, N. Y. Times, June 29, 1917.)

We have had treaties before; we must now know that we can give them reality. Millions of young men from the British Empire, from France and Italy---and in due time there will be millions from America---are engaged in demonstrating at the risk of their lives to the Prussian war lords that the world has reached that stage of civilization where justice can be enforced against the most powerful nations that trample upon its decrees.

These are the true apostles of the League of Nations. If they fail all leagues will be shams, and all treaties will continue to be nothing but scraps of paper. If they succeed---and they will---the League of Nations will be an established fact.---("A Real League of Nations," David Lloyd George, Current History, August, 1918.)

Earl Curzon said that he desired the House to assent to two propositions:

First, that it was desirable to prevent wars, or, if that was too Utopian, to limit them and diminish their horrors, to which end general concurrence and the ultimate admission of all the important states of the world was necessary.

Second, he said that he believed opinion in England was rather in advance of the opinion among the Allies, except possibly the United States. It was therefore advisable not to proceed too quickly and thus avoid rebuff.

He suggested that there be two leagues, one friendly league of Allied nations and another league of enemy nations. In the friendly league he suggested that refusal to submit a quarrel to arbitration should, by the very fact itself, place the refusing nation in a state of war with the others, and they should support each other without the need of any international police.

These were the lines which the government considered desirable and was earnestly investigating with the idea before long of exchanging views with the Allies, Earl Curzon said.---(Earl Curzon's Proposal in Parliament, Current History, August, 1918.)

Allied Pact of London of Sept. 5, 1914.

The undersigned duly authorized thereto by the respective governments hereby declare as follows:

The British, French, and Russian governments mutually engage not to conclude peace separately during the present war. The three governments agree that when terms of peace come to be discussed no one of the Allies will demand terms of peace without the previous agreement of each of the other Allies. In faith whereof the undersigned have signed this Declaration and have affixed thereto their seals:

E. Grey, Secretary of Foreign Affairs for England.

P. Cambon, Ambassador for France.

Benckendorff, Ambassador for Russia.

(To this Italy adhered in November, 1916.

The United States have not signed it, remaining free to make peace at any time and on their own terms. Current History, Vol. I, p. 297.)

Jugoslavs and Italy Clash---The Secret Treaty of London of April 26, 1915.

The root of the whole evil lies in the secret treaty concluded on 26th of April, 1915, by Great Britain, France, and Russia with Italy. The main lines of this iniquitous arrangement had already leaked out soon after its conclusion, but it was not until the Bolsheviks obtained control in Petrograd that the actual text of the treaty became known . . . The territorial concessions thus secured by Italy (as the price for joining the Allies) include, not merely Southern Triol to the Brenner, Gorizia, Trieste, the line of the Julian Alps to near Fiume, and the whole of Istria (with the islands of Lussin and Cherso), but also the whole of Northern Dalmatia, including Zara, Sebenico and their "hinterland," and even the southern islands of Lissa, Lesina, Curzola, and Meleda. This involves the annexation of nearly three-quarters of a million Slovenes and Croats, living in compact masses and with a keenly developed national consciousness.

The secret treaty was based upon entirely false premises. . . . It was drawn up in an entirely different world, which three more years of war have literally blown to fragments.(The New Europe, Nov. 28, 1918. For the Secret Treaties found in the Russian Archives and published by the Bolsheviki, see N. Y. Times Current History for January, 1918.)

Pact of Rome Between Italy and the Jugoslavs,
April-May, 1918.

The representatives of the Italian people and of the Jugoslav people in particular agree as follows:

1. In the relations between the Italian nation and the nation of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes---known also under the name of the Jugoslav nation---the representatives of the two peoples recognize that the unity and independence of the Jugoslav nation is a vital interest of Italy, just as the completion of Italian national unity is a vital interest of the Jugoslav nation. And therefore the representatives of the two peoples pledge themselves to employ every effort in order that during the war and at the moment of peace, these objectives of the two nations may be completely attained.

2. They declare that the liberation of the Adriatic Sea and its defence against every present and future enemy is a vital interest of the two peoples.

3. They pledge themselves, also, in the interest of good and sincere relations between the two peoples in the future, to solve amicably the various territorial controversies on the basis of the principles of nationality and of the right of peoples to decide their own fate, and in such a way as not to injure the vital interests of the two nations, such as shall be defined at the moment of peace.

4. To such racial groups of one people as it may be found necessary to include within the frontiers of the other there shall be recognized and guaranteed the right to their language, culture, and moral and economic interests.---(The New Europe, Dec. 19, 1918. The so-called Torre-Trumbich Resolution, from the Italian and Slav leaders who planned it. Endorsed by the Italian Premier, Signor Orlando. Since then opposed by Baron Sonnino, Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, who champions imperialistic claims for Italy and stands by the promises made to Italy in the Secret Treaty of London of 1915, which is based on the supposition that Austria-Hungary will continue to exist and which is contrary to the principle of self-determination and national rights.)

Jugoslav Declaration of Corfu.

The authorized representatives of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, recognizing that the desire of our people is to free itself from all foreign yoke, and to constitute itself an independent National State, agree in declaring that this State must be founded on the following principles:

(1) The State of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, who are also known as Southern Slavs, or Jugoslavs, will be a free and independent kingdom with indivisible territory and unity of allegiance. It will be a constitutional, democratic, and parliamentary monarchy, under the Karageorgevitch dynasty, which has always shared the feelings of the nation and has placed the national will above all else.

(2) This State will be named "the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes," and the style of the sovereign will be King of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes." The state will have a single coat of arms, a single flag, and a single crown, its emblems being composed of the present existing emblems.

(3) The special Serb, Croat, and Slovene flags and coats of arms may be freely hoisted and used.

(4) The three national denominations will be equal before the law, and may be freely used in public life.

(5) The two alphabets, Cyrillic and Latin, will also rank equally throughout the kingdom.

(6) All recognized religions shall be exercised freely and publicly, and in particular the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Mussulman creeds, which are chiefly professed by our people, will be equal and will have the same rights in regard to the state.

(7) The calendar shall be unified as soon as possible.

(8) The territory of the kingdom will include all territory compactly inhabited by our people, and cannot be mutilated without attaint to the vital interests of the community. Our nation demands nothing that belongs to others, but only what is its own. It desires freedom and unity. Therefore, it refuses consciously and firmly all partial solutions of the problem of its deliverance from Austro-Hungarian domination, and of union with Serbia and Montenegro in a state forming an indivisible whole.

(9) In the interests of freedom and of the equal rights of all nations, the Adriatic Sea shall be free and open to all.

(10) All citizens shall be equal and enjoy the same rights towards the state and before the law.

(11) Deputies to the National Parliament shall be elected by universal suffrage, with equal, direct and secret ballot.

(12) The Constitution, to be established after the conclusion of peace by a Constituent Assembly elected by universal suffrage, will be the basis of the life of the state. It will create the possibility of organizing local autonomies. It will come into force after receiving royal sanction. The nation thus unified would form a state of some 12,000,000 inhabitants, which would be a powerful bulwark against German aggression and an inseparable ally of all civilized states and peoples.

Nikola Pasic, Premier and Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Serbia.
Dr. Ante Trumbich, President of the Southern Slav Committee. Corfu, 7/20 July, 1917.

---(New Europe, August 2, 1917.)

Return of Alsace-Lorraine.

The unconditional return of Alsace and Lorraine to France is an absolute condition in the minds of all the Allies. What Germany robbed France of in 1871 must be returned.

The Germans claim that both Alsace and Lorraine were originally German countries, that France under Louis XIV stole them from Germany, and that Germany therefore has every right to keep them.

As for Alsace it is true that it belonged largely to Austria before Louis XIV. This and the fact that the great majority of the people speak two German dialects---one in upper and one in lower Alsace---are the strongest grounds for the German claim. But the fundamental characteristics of the Alsacians is their love of freedom and democracy. They adopted with enthusiasm the principles of the French Revolution and ever since have been ardent devotees of democratic France and enemies of autocratic Germany. Again and again, after their annexation to Germany, the deputies elected to represent Alsace in the German Reichstag protested their loyalty to France, and they never acquiesced in the position assigned to them in the empire, as a province (Reichsland) directly governed by the kaiser and unrepresented in the Bundesrat (Council of the Empire). The Alsatians want desperately to belong to a fundamentally democratic nation to France.

As for Lorraine it was long an independent duchy, with a brilliant history, and even before its annexation to France in the XVII century, was much more closely related to France than to Germany, and its inhabitants speak French in large majority. Germany can have no excuse whatsoever either in history or language for a claim on Lorraine. Why it was and is considered so important for Germany to keep it has now become evident. It is because of its great iron mines which furnished Germany with almost all the material for her artillery and munitions and without which she would not be able to keep fighting for more than a few weeks. When in 1871 a joint German and French commission discussed and decided the amount of French territory to be ceded to Germany, Bismarck chuckled because Germany had not only military men but engineers on the commission while France had no engineers to warn her that by running the frontier line a few miles further east she would have kept those great mine-fields and so saved the world from this great catastrophe. For now it is an axiom that war is based on mines.

The basin of the Saar, with its coal mines was also claimed by France, both as belonging to her before 1814, and as furnishing her at present with the supply of coal necessary for the reestablishment of French industries, since the Germans purposely destroyed before evacuation the only great coal mines in France those of Lens, in order to make France dependent on Germany for coal for many years.---(Summary of French Commissioner Marcel Knecht's addresses in America, Spring of 1918.)

.

Summary of the Covenant of the League of Nations.
[Prepared for this Handbook.]

Preamble.

The League is to promote international. co-operation, peace and security, through open, just and honorable international relations, the acceptance of international law and the maintenance of treaty obligations.

I. Members.

Original members are the signatories of this covenant and such other states on the annexed list as shall agree to it within two months. Other states may be elected by two-thirds vote of members. Any member may withdraw after two years' notice if in good standing.

II. Instrumentalities.

The league acts through: (1) an Assembly; (2) a Council with permanent Secretariat.

III. Assembly.

Each state has one vote and not more than three representatives. These representatives constitute the Assembly, which meets as occasion requires, at the seat of the league, or elsewhere, to, deal with any question within the purpose of League or affecting peace.

IV. Council.

The Council consists of representatives of the United States, the British Empire, France, Italy, Japan and four other states to be elected by the assembly from time to time.(1) The Council may, with the approval of the Assembly, add new members both to the League and to the Council. Each member has one vote and one representative. It meets as occasion requires, at least once a year, under the same conditions as the Assembly. League members not represented shall be invited to send representatives to sit as members when their special interests are affected.

V. Procedure.

All decisions must be unanimous except where otherwise expressly provided. All matters of procedure, including appointment of committees may be decided by a majority of the members present. The first meeting both of Assembly and Council shall be summoned by the President of the United States.

VI. Permanent Secretariat.

It shall be established at the seat of the League, and shall comprise a secretary-general with secretaries and staff. The secretary-general shall be appointed by the Council, with the approval of the Assembly. He appoints his secretaries and staff with the approval of the Council. All office expenses shall be apportioned pro-rata among members of the League.(2)

VII. Seat of the League.

The League's seat is Geneva. It may be changed by the Council. Men and women are equally eligible to any position. All representatives and officials shall enjoy diplomatic privileges and immunities and all its property and the buildings it occupies shall be inviolable.

VIII. Reduction of Armament.

The necessity of the reduction of national armaments to the lowest point consistent with safety and of the enforcement by common action of international obligations is recognized. This reduction shall be planned by the Council according to geographical situation and special circumstances; shall be subject to revision at least every ten years; and after adoption shall not be exceeded except by concurrence of the Council. The undesirability of private manufacture of munitions and arms is recognized, with due regard to the necessities of states unable to manufacture their own. Members shall interchange full information as to armaments and military and naval programs and industries.

IX. Advisory Commission on Military and Naval Questions.

A permanent commission shall be constituted to advise the Council on the execution of the provisions of Articles I and VIII and on military and naval affairs generally."

X. Protection of Territory and Independence of Members.

The territory and political independence of all members of the League shall be respected and preserved and in case of any aggression or threat the Council shall advise as to means for fulfilling this obligation.

XI. Action to Insure Peace.

The League shall take action in case of any war or threat of war whether affecting a member or not, and the Secretary-General shall, at request of any member summon a meeting of the Council, every member being entitled to bring before the Assembly or Council any circumstance affecting the peace of the world.

XII. War to Be Averted by Arbitrators or Council.

A dispute threatening rupture shall be submitted to arbitration or to inquiry by the Council, and in no case shall war be resorted to until three months after the decision by the Arbitrators or Council, which must be made, if by the arbitrators, within a reasonable time and by the Council within six months.

XIII. Settlement of Dispute by Arbitration.

Disputes as to interpretation of treaties, or international law, or obligation, or extent of reparation are subjects for arbitration before a court agreed upon by the parties to the dispute or stipulated by treaty. The award shall be carried out and war shall not be resorted to against any member who complies: in default of this the Council shall propose steps to enforce compliance.

XIV. Court of International Justice.

The Council shall formulate for adoption by the League plans for a permanent court of international justice to hear and determine any dispute referred to it by the parties; or advise on any matter submitted by the Council or Assembly.

XV. Settlement of Dispute by the Council.

Any dispute not submitted as above to arbitration shall be submitted by members to the Council, through the Secretary-General to whom full statements shall be submitted and who shall arrange for full investigation. Whether the Council does or does not settle the dispute, a full statement shall be made public. If the report is not unanimous the various members of the League reserve liberty of action. The Council may refer any dispute to the Assembly, and must so refer it at the request of either party if made within fourteen days from the submission of the controversy to the Council.

XVI. Action in Case of Resort to War.

A member resorting to war in disregard of covenants under Articles XII, XIII and XV commits an act of war against all members of the League which shall sever all relations, and prohibit all intercourse, financial, commercial or personal, with the offending state, including the relations of states not members. The Council shall recommend what military or naval forces each member shall contribute to the forces to be used to protect the covenants. Members shall mutually support each other in every way and any member. who violates a League covenant can be expelled by the unanimous vote of the Council.

XVIL Disputes Between, Members and Non-Members.

In cases of dispute between a member and non-member or between non-members, the non-members shall be invited to becomes members for the purposes of such dispute, subject to the provisions of Articles XII to XVI with necessary modifications. The Council shall institute inquiry and recommend action. If a state so invited resorts to war against a member of the League it is subject to the provisions of Article XVI. If both parties refuse to join, the Council may act to prevent war and settle the dispute.

XVIII. Registration and Publication of Engagements.

Every international engagement of any League member shall be registered with and published by the secretariat and shall not until then be binding.

XIX. Reconsideration of Treaties and Conditions.

The Assembly may advise the reconsideration of obsolete treaties and of conditions dangerous to peace.

XX. Abrogation of Treaties Inconsistent With This Covenant.

All obligations or understandings between League members inconsistent with this covenant must be abrogated and none such shall hereafter be entered into.

XXI. The Monroe Doctrine.

Nothing in this covenant shall be deemed to affect the validity of international engagements such as treaties of arbitration or regional understandings like the Monroe Doctrine for securing the maintenance of peace.

XXII. Mandataries.

Colonies and territories separated by the war from their former suzerain states and not yet capable of self-government, form a sacred trust of civilization, to be fulfilled through the tutelage of advanced nations best suited by resources, experience or geographical position, as mandatories of the League. The character of the mandate shall vary according to conditions. The wishes of the subjects of the Turkish Empire must be considered in the selection of mandatories. More responsibility must be assumed by the mandatories in the case of Central Africa, including equal opportunities in trade and commerce for other members of the League. In S. W. Africa and certain S. Pacific islands the laws of the mandatory states must prevail. In every case the mandatory shall make an annual report to the Council, which shall define the degree of authority in each case, and shall act through a permanent Commission.

XXIII. Labor Bureau and General Supervision.

Members shall secure fair and humane labor conditions everywhere; just treatment of natives; control of traffic in women and children, opium and other drugs; control of traffic in arms and ammunition; freedom of commerce and control of disease.

XXIV. International Bureaus.

With the consent of the parties all international bureaus already established by treaty shall be placed under the direction of the League. Matters of international interest not under such control shall be attended to by the Secretariat of the League, by consent both of the Council and of the parties.

XXV. Red Cross.

National Red Cross organizations to improve health, prevent disease and mitigate sufferings shall be promoted by members.

XXVI. Amendments.

This covenant may be amended by the Council and by a majority of these states forming the Assembly. Any member dissenting shall cease to be a member of the League.

Annex.

The original members of the League are: (1) the signatures of the treaty of peace; United States of America, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, British Empire, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New South Wales, India, China, Cuba, Czecho-Slovakia, Ecuador, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hedjaz, Honduras, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Siam, Uruguay: (2) States invited to accede to the covenant: Argentine Republic, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Paraguay, Persia, Salvador, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Venezuela.

.

SUMMARY OF PEACE TREATY WITH GERMANY.
[Prepared for this Handbook.]

Preamble.

The preamble names as parties of the one part the United States the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, described as the five allied and associated powers; and Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Hayti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia, Siam, Czecho-Slovakia and Uruguay, which, with the other five, are described as the allied and associated powers, and on the other part, Germany.

It states that: From the coming into force of the present treaty the state of war will terminate. From the minute and subject to the provisions of this treaty official relations with Germany, and with each of the German states, will be resumed by the Allied and Powers.

I. League of Nations.

The covenant of the League of Nations constitutes Section 1, of the Peace Treaty, which places upon the League many specific in addition to its general duties. It may question Germany at any time for a violation of the neutralized zone east of the Rhine as a threat against the world's peace. It will appoint three of the five members of the Saar commission, oversee its regime, and carry out the plebiscite.

It will appoint the high commissioner of Danzig, guarantee the independence of the free city, and arrange for treaties between Danzig and Germany and Poland. It will work out the mandatory system to be applied to the former German colonies, and act as a filial court in part of the plebiscites of the Belgian-German frontiers, and in disputes as to the Kiel Canal, and decide certain of the economic and financial problems.

An international conference on labor is to be held in October under its direction, and another on the international control of ports, waterways, and railways is foreshadowed.

[A full summary of the Covenant of the League of Nations is given under the previous head.]

II. Western Frontiers of Germany.

Alsace-Lorraine.

Germany cedes to France Alsace-Lorraine, and to Belgium two small districts between Luxemburg and Holland (382 square miles). She also cedes to Poland the southeastern tip of Silesia most of Posen, and West Prussia, East Prussia being isolated from the main body by a part of Poland.

She loses sovereignty over the northeasternmost tip of East Prussia, and the internationalized areas about Danzig, and the basin of the Saar. The southeastern third of East Prussia and the area between East Prussia and the Vistula is to have its nationality determined by popular vote, as is to be the case in part of Schleswig.

Belgium.

Germany is to consent to the abrogation of the treaties of 1839, by which Belgium was established as a neutral State, and to agree in advance to any convention with which the Allied and Associated Powers may determine to replace them. She is to recognize the full sovereignty of Belgium over the contested territory of Moresnet and over part of Prussian Moresnet, and to renounce in favor of Belgium all rights over the circles of Eupen and Malmedy, the inhabitants of which are to be entitled within six months to protest against this change of sovereignty either in whole or in part, the final decision to be reserved to the League of Nations.

Luxemburg.

Germany renounces her various treaties and conventions with the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, adheres to the abrogation of its neutrality, and accepts in advance any international agreement as to it, reached by the Allied and Associated Powers.

Left Bank of the Rhine.

Germany will not maintain any fortifications or armed forces less than fifty kilometers to the east of the Rhine, hold any manoeuvres, nor maintain any works to facilitate mobilization. In case of violation, "she shall be regarded as committing a hostile act against the powers who sign the present treaty and as intending to disturb the peace of the world. "By virtue of the present treaty, Germany shall be bound to respond to any request for an explanation which the Council of the League of Nations may think it necessary to address her."

Alsace-Lorraine.

The territories ceded to Germany by the Treaty of Frankfort are restored to France with their frontiers as before 1871, to date from the signing of the armistice, and to be free of all public debts.

All public property and all private property of German ex-sovereigns passes to the French without payment or credit. France is substituted for Germany as regards ownership of the railroads and rights over concessions of tramways. The Rhine bridges pass to France with the obligation for their upkeep.

For five years manufactured products of Alsace-Lorraine will be admitted to Germany free of duty. Contracts between Alsace-Lorrainers and Germans are maintained.

The Saar Basin.

In compensation for the destruction of coal mines in Northern France and as payment on account of reparation Germany cedes to France full ownership of the coal mines of the Saar Basin with their subsidiaries, accessories and facilities. Their value will be estimated by the Reparation Commission and credited against that account. The territory will be governed by a commission appointed by the League of Nations and consisting of five members: One French, one a native inhabitant of the Saar and three representing three different countries other than France and Germany. The commission will have all powers of government.

There will be no military service, but only a local gendarmerie to preserve order. The people will preserve their local assemblies, religious liberties, schools and language, but may vote only for local assemblies. They will keep their present nationality, except so far as individuals may change it.

After fifteen years a plebiscite will be held by communes to ascertain the desires of the population as to continuance of the existing regime under the League of Nations, union with France or union with Germany. The right to vote will belong to all inhabitants over 20 resident therein at the signature.

Taking into account the opinions thus expressed the league will decide the ultimate sovereignty.

III. Other Frontiers of Germany.

German Austria.

"Germany recognizes the total independence of German Austria in the boundaries traced."

Czecho-Slovakia.

Germany recognizes the entire independence of the Czecho-Slovak State, including the autonomous territory of the Ruthenians south of the Carpathians, and accepts the frontiers of this State as to be determined, which in the case of the German frontier shall follow the frontier of Bohemia in 1914.

Poland.

Germany cedes to Poland the greater part of Upper Silesia, Posen and the province of West Prussia on the left bank of the Vistula. A field boundary commission of seven, five representing the Allied and Associated Powers and one each representing Poland and Germany, shall be constituted within fifteen days of the peace to delimit this boundary.

East Prussia.

The southern and eastern frontier of East Prussia is to be fixed by plebiscites.

In each case German troops and authorities will move out within fifteen days of the peace and the territories be placed under an international commission of five members appointed by the five Allied and Associated Powers, with the particular duty of arranging for a free, fair and secret vote. The commission will report the results of the plebiscites to the five Powers with a recommendation for the boundary and will terminate its work as soon as the boundary has been laid down and the new authorities set up.

The five Allied and Associated Powers will draw up regulations assuring East Prussia full and equitable access to and use of the Vistula, as well as to assure suitable railroad communication across German territory between Poland and Danzig, while Poland shall grant free passage from East Prussia to Germany.

Danzig.

Danzig and the district immediately about is to be constituted into the "Free City of Danzig" under the guarantee of the League of Nations.

A convention, the terms of which shall be fixed by the five Allied and Associated Powers, shall be concluded between Poland and Danzig, which shall include Danzig within the Polish customs frontiers, through a free area in the port; insure to Poland the free use of all the city's waterways, docks and other port facilities, the control and administration of the Vistula and the whole through railway system within the city, and postal telegraphic and telephonic communication between Poland and Danzig; provide against discrimination against Poles within the city and place its foreign relations and the diplomatic protection of its citizens abroad in charge of Poland.

Denmark.

The frontier between Germany and Denmark will be defined by the self-determination of the population. An international commission of five, of whom Norway and Sweden shall be invited to name two, shall administer the region and shall insure a free and secret vote in three zones.

The International Commission will then draw a new frontier on the basis of these plebiscites and with due regard for geographical and economic conditions. Germany will renounce all sovereignty over territories north of this line in favor of the associated Governments, who will hand them over to Denmark.

Heligoland.

The fortifications, military establishments and harbors of the islands of Heligoland and Dune are to be destroyed under the supervision of the Allies by German labor, and at Germany's expense. They may not be reconstructed or any similar fortifications built in the future.

Russia.

Germany agrees to respect as permanent and inalienable the independency of all territories which were part of the former Russian Empire, to accept the abrogation of the Brest-Litovsk and other treaties entered into with the Maximalist Government of Russia, to recognize the full force of all treaties entered into by the Allied and Associated Powers with States which were a part of the former Russian Empire, and to recognize the frontiers as determined thereon.

The Allied and Associated Powers formally reserve the right of Russia to obtain restitution and reparation on the principles of the present treaty.

IV. German Rights Outside Europe.

Outside Europe Germany renounces all rights, titles and privileges as to her own or her allies' territories to all the Allied and Associated Powers, and undertakes to accept whatever measures are taken by the five Allied Powers in relation thereto.

Colonies and Overseas Possessions.

Germany renounces in favor of the Allied and Associated Powers her overseas possessions with all rights and titles therein.

China.

Germany renounces in favor of China all privileges and indemnities resulting from the Boxer Protocol of 1901 and all buildings, wharves, barracks, forts, munition of warships, wireless plants and other public property except diplomatic or consular establishments in the German concessions of Tientsin and Hankow and in other Chinese territory, except Kiao-Chou.

Germany accepts the abrogation of the concessions at Hankow and Tientsin, China agreeing to open them to international use.

Siam.

Germany recognizes that all agreements between herself and Siam, including the right of extraterritoriality ceased July 22, 1917. All German public property, except consular and diplomatic premises, passes without compensation to Siam.

Liberia.

Germany renounces all rights under the international arrangements of 1911 and 1912 regarding Liberia, more particularly the right to nominate a receiver of the customs, and disinterests herself in any further negotiations for the rehabilitation of Liberia.

Morocco.

Germany renounces all her rights, titles and privileges under the act of Algeciras and the Franco-German agreements of 1909 and 1911 and under all treaties and arrangements with the Sherifian Empire. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations as to Morocco between France and other Powers, accepts all the consequences of the French protectorate and renounces the Capitulations.

Egypt.

Germany recognizes the British Protectorate over Egypt declared on Dec. 18, 1914, and renounces as from Aug. 4, 1914, the Capitulation and all the treaties, agreements, etc., concluded by her with Egypt. She undertakes not to intervene in any negotiations about Egypt between Great Britain and other Powers. Germany consents to the transfer to Great Britain of the powers given to the late Sultan of Turkey for securing the free navigation of the Suez Canal.

Turkey and Bulgaria.

Germany accepts all arrangements which the Allied and Associated Powers make with Turkey and Bulgaria with reference to any right, privileges, or interests claimed in those countries by Germany or her nationals and not dealt with elsewhere.

Shantung.

Germany cedes to Japan all rights, titles and privileges, notably as to Kiao-Chou, and the railroads, mines, and cables acquired by her treaty with China of March 6, 1897, by and other agreements as to Shantung. All German rights to the railroad from Tsing Tao to Tsinanfu, including all facilities and mining rights and rights of exploitation, pass equally to Japan, and the cables from Tsing Tao to Shanghai and Chefoo, the cables free of all charges.

V. Military, Naval and Air Forces.

In order to render possible the initiation of a general limitation of the armaments of all nations, Germany undertakes directly to observe the military, naval and air clauses which follow:

Miltary Forces.

The demobilization of the German army must take place within two months of the peace. Its strength may not exceed 100,000 including 4,000 officers, with not over seven divisions of infantry and three of cavalry, and to be devoted exclusively to maintenance of internal order and control of frontiers. The great German General Staff is abolished. The army administrative service, consisting of civilian personnel not included in the number of effectives is reduced to one-tenth the total in the 1913 budget.

Armaments.

All establishments for the manufacturing, preparation, storage or design of arms and munitions of war, except those specifically excepted, must be closed within three months of the peace and their personnel dismissed. The exact amount of armament and munitions allowed Germany is laid down in detailed tables, all in excess to be surrendered, or rendered useless. The manufacture or importation of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases and all analogous liquids is forbidden, as well as the importation of arms, munitions and war materials. Germany may not manufacture such materials for foreign governments.

Conscription.

Conscription is abolished in Germany. The enlisted personnel must be maintained by voluntary enlistments for terms of twelve consecutive years, the number of discharges before the expiration of that terms not in any year to exceed 5 per cent. of the total effectives. Officers remaining in the service must agree to serve to the age of forty-five years, and newly appointed officers must agree to serve actively for twenty-five years.

No military schools except those absolutely indispensable for the units allowed shall exist in Germany two months after the peace. No associations such as societies of discharged soldiers, shooting or touring clubs, educational establishments or universities may occupy themselves with military matters. All measures of mobilization are forbidden.

Fortresses.

All fortified works, fortresses, and field works situated in German territory within a zone fifty kilometers east of the Rhine will be dismantled within three months. The construction of any new fortifications there is forbidden. The fortified works on the southern and eastern frontiers, however, may remain.

Control.

Interallied commissions of control will see to the execution of the provisions for which a time limit is set, the maximum named being three months. They may establish headquarters at the German seat of government and go to any part of Germany desired. Germany must give them complete facilities, pay their expenses, and also the expenses of execution on of the treaty, including the labor and material necessary in demolition, destruction or surrender of war equipment.

Navy.

The German navy must be demobilized within a period of two months after the peace. She will be allowed six small battleships, six light cruisers, twelve destroyers, twelve torpedo boats and no submarines, either military or commercial, with a personnel of fifteen thousand men, including officers, and no reserve force of any character. Conscription is abolished, only voluntary service being permitted, with a minimum period of twenty-five years' service for officers and twelve for men. No member of the German mercantile marine will be permitted any naval training.

All German vessels of war in foreign parts, and the German High Sea Fleet interned at Scapa Flow, will be surrendered, the final disposition of these ships to be decided upon by the Allied and Associated Powers. Germany must surrender forty-two modern destroyers, fifty modern torpedo boats and all submarines with their salvage vessels; all war vessels under construction, including submarines, must be broken up. War vessels not otherwise provided for are to be placed in reserve or used for commercial purposes. Replacement of ships except those lost can take place only at the end of twenty years for battleships and fifteen years for destroyers The largest armored ship Germany will be permitted will be 10,000 tons.

Germany is required to sweep up the mines in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea. All German fortifications in the Baltic defending the passages through the belts must be demolished. Other coast defences are permitted, but the number and calibre of the guns must not be increased.

Germany will be allowed to repair German submarine cables which have been cut, but are not being utilized by the Allied Powers, but fourteen cables or parts of cables are specified which will not be restored to Germany.

Air.

The armed forces of Germany must not include any military or naval air forces except for not over one hundred unarmed seaplanes to be retained till Oct. 1, to search for submarine mines. No dirigibles shall be kept. The entire air personnel is to be demobilized within two months, except for 1,000 officers and men retained till October. No aviation grounds or dirigible sheds are to be allowed within 150 kilometers of the Rhine or the eastern or southern frontiers, existing installations within these limits to be destroyed. The manufacture of aircraft and parts of aircraft is forbidden for six months. All military and naval aeronautical material under a most exhaustive definition must be surrendered within three months, except for the 100 seaplanes already specified.

VI. Repatriation of Prisoners.

The repatriation of German prisoners and interned civilians is to be carried out without delay and at Germany's expense by a commission composed of representatives of the Allies and Germany. Until Germany has surrendered persons guilty of offenses against the laws and customs of war, the Allies have the right to retain selected German officers.

VII. War Responsibilities.

"The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II. of Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, not for an offence against criminal law, but for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties."

The ex-Emperor's surrender is to be requested of Holland and a special tribunal set up composed of one judge from each of the Principal Great Powers; with full guarantees of the right of defence, it is to be guided "by the highest motive of international policy with a view of vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and the validity of international morality" and will fix the punishment it feels should be imposed.

Persons accused of having committed acts in violation of the laws and customs of war are to be tried and punished by military tribunals under military law. If the charges affect nationals of only one State, they will be tried before a tribunal of that State ; if they affect nationals of several States, they will be tried before joint tribunals of the States concerned. Germany shall hand over to the Associated Governments either jointly or severally all persons so accused and all documents and information necessary to insure full knowledge of the incriminating acts, the discovery of the offenders, and the just appreciation of the responsibility. The judge will be entitled to name counsel.

VIII. War Reparation.

The Allied and Associated Governments affirm and Germany accepts the responsibility of herself and her allies for causing all the loss and damage to which the Allied and Associated Governments and their nationals have been subjected as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her allies.

While the Allied and Associated Governments recognize that the resources of Germany are not adequate after taking into account permanent diminutions of such resources which will result from other treaty claims, to make complete reparation for all such loss and damage they require her to make compensation for all damages caused to civilians under seven main categories:

(a) Damage by personal injury to civilians caused by acts of war, directly or indirectly, including bombardments from the air.

(b) Damage caused to civilians including exposure at sea, resulting from acts of cruelty ordered by the enemy, and to civilians in the occupied territories.

(c) Damages caused by maltreatment of prisoners.

(d) Damages to the allied peoples represented by pensions and separation allowances, capitalized at the signature of this treaty.

(e) Damages to property other than naval or military materials.

(f) Damage to civilians by being forced to labor.

(g) Damages in the form of levies or fines imposed by the enemy.

Germany further binds herself to repay all sums borrowed by Belgium from her Allies as a result of Germany's violation of the treaty of 1839 up to November 11, 1918, and for this purpose will issue at once and hand over to the Reparation Commission 5 per cent. gold bonds falling due in 1926. The total obligation of Germany to pay as defined in the category of damages is to be determined and notified to her after a fair hearing and not later than May 1, 1921, by an Inter-allied Reparation Commission.

At the same time a schedule of payments to discharge the obligation within thirty years shall be presented. These payments are subject to postponement in certain contingencies. Germany irrevocably recognizes the full authority of this Commission, agrees to supply it with all the necessary information and to pass legislation to effectuate its findings. She further agrees to restore to the Allies cash and certain articles which can be identified. As an immediate step toward restoration Germany shall pay within two years one thousand million pounds sterling in either gold, goods, ships or other specific forms of payment. This sum is included in and not additional to the first thousand million bond issue referred to below with the understanding that certain expenses, such as those of the armies of occupation and payments for food and raw materials, may be deducted at the discretion of the Allies.

In periodically estimating Germany's capacity to pay, the Reparation Commission shall examine the German system of taxation, to the end that the sums for reparation which Germany is required to pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues, prior to that, for the service or discharge of any domestic loan, and, secondly, so as to satisfy itself that in general the German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the peoples represented on the commission.

The measures which the Allied and Associated Powers shall have the right to take, in case of voluntary default by Germany, and which Germany agrees not to regard as acts of war, may include economic and financial prohibitions and reprisals, and in general such other measures as the respective Governments may determine to be necessary in the circumstances.

The commission shall consist of one representative each of the United States, Great Britain, France, Italy and Belgium, a representative of Serbia or Japan taking the place of the Belgian representative when the interests of either country are particularly affected, with all other Allied Powers entitled, when their claims are under consideration, to the right of representation without voting power. It shall permit Germany to give evidence regarding her capacity to pay and shall assure a just opportunity to be heard.

It shall make its permanent headquarters at Paris, establish its own procedure and personnel, have general control of the whole reparation problem and become the exclusive agency of the Allies for receiving, holding, selling and distributing reparation payments. Majority vote shall prevail except that unanimity is required on questions involving the sovereignty of any of the Allies, the cancellation of all or part of Germany's obligations, the time and manner of selling, distributing and negotiating bonds issued by Germany.

Withdrawal from representation on the commission is permitted upon twelve months' notice. The commission may require Germany to give from time to time, by way of guarantee, issues of bonds or other obligations, as follows :

One thousand million pounds sterling, payable not later than May 1, 1921, without interest, two thousand million pounds sterling bearing 2 1/2 per cent. interest between 1921 and 1926, and thereafter 5 per cent., with a 1 per cent. sinking fund payment beginning in 1926, and an undertaking to deliver bonds to an additional amount of two thousand million pounds sterling bearing interest at 5 per cent.

Under terms to be fixed by the commission interest on Germany's debt will be 5 per cent., unless otherwise determined by the commission in the future, and payments that are not made in gold may "be accepted by the commission in the form of properties, commodities, businesses, rights, concessions, etc."

Shipping.

"The German Government recognizes the right of the Allies to the replacement, ton for ton and class for class, of all merchants ships and fishing boats lost or damaged owing to the war, and agrees to cede to the Allies all German merchant ships of 1,600 tons gross and upwards, one-half of her ships between 1,600 and 1,000 tons gross, and one-quarter of her steam trawlers and other fishing boats. These ships are to be delivered within two months to the Reparation Commission.

"'As an additional part of reparation the German Government further agrees to build merchant ships for the account of the Allies to the amount of not exceeding 200,000 tons gross annually during the next five years."'

Devastated Areas.

Germany undertakes to, devote her economic resources directly to the physical restoration of the invaded areas. The Reparation Commission is authorized to require Germany to replace the destroyed articles by the delivery of animals, machinery, etc., existing in Germany and to manufacture materials required for reconstruction purposes, with due consideration for Germany's essential domestic requirements.

Coal, etc.

Germany is to deliver annually for ten years to France coal equivalent to the difference between annual pre-war output of Nord and Pas De Calais mines and annual production during above ten years. Germany further gives options over ten years for delivery of 7,000,000 tons of coal per year to France, in addition to the above; of 8,000,000 tons to Belgium and of an amount rising from four and a half million tons in 1919 to 1920 to eight and a half million tons in 1923 to 1942 to Italy at prices to be fixed as prescribed in the treaty. Provision is also made for delivery to France over three years of benzol, coal tar and sulphate of ammonia. The commission has powers to postpone or annul the above deliveries should they interfere unduly with industrial requirements of Germany.

Cables.

Germany renounces all title to specific cables, value of such as were privately owned being credited to her against reparation indebtedness.

Special Provisions.

As reparation for the destruction of the library of Louvain, Germany is to hand over manuscripts, early printed books, prints, etc., to the equivalent of those destroyed.

Germany is to restore within six months the Koran of the Caliph Othman, formerly at Medina, to the King of the Hedjaz, and the skull of the Sultan Mkwawa, formerly in German East Africa, to his Britannic Majesty's Government.

IX Public Debt and Occupation Cost.

The Powers to which German territory is ceded will assume a certain portion of the German pre-war debt, the amount to be fixed by the Reparations Commission. In view, however, of the special circumstances under which Alsace-Lorraine was separated from France in 1871, when Germany refused to accept any part of the French public debt, France will not assume any part of Germany's pre-war debt there, nor will Poland share in certain German debts incurred for the oppression of Poland.

Mandatory powers will not assume any German debts or give any credit for German Government property. Germany renounces all right of representation on, or control of, state banks, commissions, or other similar international financial and economic organizations.

Germany is required to pay the total cost of the Armies of Occupation from the date of the armistice as long as they are maintained in German territory, this cost to be a first charge on her resources. The cost of reparation is the next charge, after making such provisions for payments for imports as the Allies may deem necessary.

Germany is to deliver to the Allied and Associated Powers all sums deposited in Germany by Turkey and Austria-Hungary in connection with the financial support extended by her to them during the war, and to transfer to the Allies all claims against Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria or Turkey in connection with agreements made during the war. Germany confirms the renunciation of the treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk.

X. Customs, Contracts and Conventions

Tariffs.

For a period of six months Germany shall impose no tariff duties higher than the lowest in force in 1914. Germany must give most favored nation treatment to the Allied and Associated Powers. She shall impose no customs tariff for five years on goods originating in Alsace-Lorraine and for three years on goods originating in former German territory ceded to Poland, with the right of observation of a similar exception for Luxemburg.

Shipping.

Ships of the Allied and Associated Powers shall for five years and thereafter, under condition of reciprocity unless the League of Nations otherwise decides, enjoy the same rights in German ports as German vessels and have most favored nation treatment in fishing, coasting trade and towage even in territorial waters. Ships of a country having no seacoast may be registered at some one place within its territory.

Unfair Competition.

Germany undertakes to give the trade of the Allied and Associated Powers adequate safeguards against unfair competition and in particular to suppress the use of false wrappings and markings and on condition of reciprocity to respect the laws and judicial decisions of Allied and Associated States in respect of regional appelations of wines and spirits.

Multilateral Conventions.

Some forty multilateral conventions are renewed between Germany and the Allied and Associated Powers, but special conditions are attached to Germany's readmission to several. As to the International Railway Union she shall adhere to the new convention when formulated.

Bilateral Treaties.

Each Allied and Associate State may renew any treaty with Germany in so far as consistent with the peace treaty by giving notice within six months. Treaties entered into by Germany since Aug. 1, 1914, with other enemy States and before or since that date with Rumania, Russia and Governments representing parts of Russia are abrogated and concessions granted under pressure by Russia to German subjects annulled. The allied and associated States are to enjoy most favored national treatment under treaties entered into by Germany and other enemy States before Aug. 1, 1914, and under treaties entered into by Germany and neutral States during the war.

Pre-War Debts.

A system of clearing houses is to be created within three months. one in Germany and one in each allied and associated State which adopts the plan for the payment of pre-war debts, including those arising from contracts suspended by the war, for the adjustment of the proceeds of the liquidation of enemy property and the settlement of other obligations. Each participating State assumes responsibility for the payment of all debts owing by its nationals to nationals of the enemy States except in cases of pre-war insolvency of the debtor.

Enemy Property.

The proceeds of the sale of private enemy property in each participating State may be used to pay the debts owed to the nationals of that State, direct payment from debtor to creditor and all communications relating thereto being prohibited.

Germany shall restore or pay for all private enemy property seized or damaged by her, the amount of damages to be fixed by the mixed arbitral tribunal. The Allied and Associated States may liquidate German private property within their territories as compensation for property of their nationals not restored or paid for by Germany, for debts owed to their nationals by German nationals and for other claims against Germany.

Contracts.

Mixed arbitral tribunals shall be established of three members, one chosen by Germany, one by the Associated States and the third by agreement, or failing which by the President of Switzerland. They shall have jurisdiction over all disputes as to contracts concluded before the present peace treaty.

Rights as to industrial, literary and artistic property are reestablished. The special war measures of the Allied and Associated Powers are ratified and the right reserved to impose conditions on the use of German patents and copyrights when in the public interest. Except as between the United States and Germany, prewar licenses and rights to sue for infringements committed during the war are cancelled.

Religious Missions.

The Allied and Associated Powers agree that properties of religious missions in territories belonging or ceded to them shall continue in their work under the control of the Powers, Germany renouncing all claims in their behalf.

XI. Aerial Navigation.

Aircraft of the Allied and Associated Powers shall have full liberty of passage and landing over and in German territory, equal treatment with German planes as to use of German airdromes, and with most favored nation planes as to internal commercial traffic in Germany. These rules apply until 1923 unless Germany has since been admitted to the League of Nations or to the Allied Aerial convention.

XII. Freedom of Transit and Transport.

Germany must grant freedom of transit through her territories by mail or water to persons, goods, ships, carriages, and mails from or to any of the Allied or Associated Powers, without customs or transit duties, undue delays, restrictions, or discriminations based on nationality, means of transport, or place of entry or departure. She may not establish any tax discrimination against the ports of Allied or Associated Powers.

Free Zones in Ports.

Free zones existing in German ports on Aug. 1, 1914, must be maintained with due facilities as to warehouses, and packing, without discrimination, and without charges except for expenses of administration and use.

International Rivers.

The Elbe, the Vltava, the Oder, the Niemen, and the Danube from Ulm are declared international, together with their connections.

The Elbe and the Oder are to be placed under international commissions to meet within three months.

The Danube.

The European Danube Commission reassumes its pre-war powers, with representatives of only Great Britain, France, Italy and Rumania. The Upper Danube is to he administered by a new international commission.

The Rhine and the Moselle.

The Rhine is placed tinder the central commission to meet at Strasbourg within six months after the peace and to be composed of four representatives of France, which shall in addition select the president; four of Germany, and two each of Great Britain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Belgium is to be permitted to build a deep draft Rhine-Meuse canal if she so desires within twenty-five years, in which case Germany must construct the part within her territory on plans drawn by Belgium. Similarly the interested Allied governments may construct a Rhine-Meuse canal, both, if constructed, to come under the competent international commission. Germany may not object if the Central Rhine Commission desires to extend its jurisdiction over the lower Moselle, the upper Rhine, or lateral canals.

Railways.

Germany, in addition to most favored nation treatment on her railways, agrees to ensure communication by rail between the Allied, Associated and other States; to allow the construction or improvement within twenty-five years of such lines as are necessary; and to conform her rolling stock to enable its incorporation in trains of the Allied or Associated Powers.

Rights for Czecho-Slovakia.

To assure Czecho-Slovakia access to the sea, special rights are given her both north and south. Toward the Adriatic, she is permitted to run her own through trains to Fiume and Trieste. To the north, Germany is to lease her for ninety-nine years spaces in Hamburg and Stettin, the details to be worked out by a commission of three representing Czecho-Slovakia, Germany and Great Britain.

The Kiel Canal.

The Kiel Canal is to remain free and open to war and merchant ships of all nations at peace with Germany, subjects, goods and ships of all States are to be treated on terms of absolute equality, and no taxes to be imposed beyond those necessary for the upkeep and improvement, for which Germany is to be responsible. In case of violation of or disagreement as to those provisions, any State may appeal to the League of Nations, and may demand the appointment of an international commission. For the preliminary hearing of complaints Germany shall establish a local authority at Kiel.

XIII. International Labor Organizations.

Members of the League of Nations agree to establish a permanent organization to promote international adjustment of labor conditions, to consist of an annual international labor conference and an international labor office.

The former is composed of four representatives of each State, two from the Government and one each from the employers and the employed; each of them may vote individually. It will be a deliberative legislation body, its measures taking the form of draft conventions or recommendations for legislation, which if passed by two-thirds vote must be submitted to the lawmaking authority in every State participating. Each Government may either enact the terms into law; approve the principle, but modify them to local needs; leave the actual legislation in case of a Federal State to local legislatures; or reject the convention altogether without further obligation.

The international labor office is established at the seat of the League of Nations as part of its organization. It is to collect and distribute information on labor throughout the world and prepare agenda for the conference. It will publish a periodical in French and English, and possibly other languages. Each State agrees to make to it for presentation to the conference an annual report of measures taken to execute accepted conventions. The governing body consists of twenty-four members, twelve representing the Governments, six the employers and six the employees, to serve for three years.

A complaint by one Government against another may be referred by the governing body to a commission of inquiry nominated by the secretary-general of the League. If the commission report fails to bring satisfactory action, the matter may be taken to a permanent court of international justice for final decision.

The first meeting of thee conference will take place in October, 1919, at Washington, to discuss the eight hour day or forty-eight hour week; prevention of unemployment; extension and application of the international conventions adopted at Berne in 1906, etc.

Labor Clauses.

Nine principles of labor conditions were recognized on the ground that "the well being, physical and moral, of the industrial wage earners is of supreme international importance." With exceptions necessitated by differences of climate, habits and, economic development, they include the guiding principle that labor should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce; right of association of employers and employees; a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life; the eight hour day or forty-eight hour week; a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable; abolition of child labor and assurance of the continuation of the education and proper physical development of children; equal pay for equal work as between men and women; equitable treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein, including foreigners, and a system of inspection in which women should take part.

XIV. Guarantees.

Western Europe.

As a guarantee for the execution of the treaty German territory to the west of the Rhine, together with the bridgeheads, will be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for fifteen years. If the conditions are faithfully carried out by Germany, certain districts, including the bridgehead of Cologne, will be evacuated at the expiration of five years; certain other districts, including the bridge head of Coblenz, and the territories nearest the Belgian frontier, will be evacuated after ten years, and the remainder, including the bridgehead of Mainz, will be evacuated after fifteen years. In case the Interallied Reparation Commission finds that Germany has failed to observe the whole or part of her obligations, either during the occupation or after the fifteen years have expired, the whole or part of the areas specified will be reoccupied immediately. If before the expiration of the fifteen years Germany complies with all the treaty undertakings, the occupying forces will be withdrawn immediately.

Eastern Europe.

All German troops at present in territories to the east of the new frontier shall return as soon as the Allied and Associated Governments deem wise. They are to abstain from all requisitions and are in no way to interfere with measures for national defence taken by the Government concerned.

XV. Miscellaneous.

Germany agrees to recognize the full validity of the treaties of peace and additional conventions to be concluded by the Allied and Associated Powers with the Powers allied with Germany, to agree to the decisions to be taken as to the territories of Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey, and to recognize the new States in the frontiers to be fixed for them.

Germany agrees not to put forward any pecuniary claims against any allied or associated Power signing the present treaty based on events previous to the coming into force of the treaty.

Germany accepts all decrees as to German ships and goods made by any allied or associated prize court. The Allies reserve the right to examine all decisions of German prize courts. The present treaty, of which the French and British texts are both authentic, shall be ratified and the depositions of ratifications made in Paris as soon as possible. The treaty is to become effective in all respects for each Power on the date of deposition of its ratification.

.

Mandatories for German Colonies.

The Council of Three---M. Clemenceau, President Wilson, and Mr. Lloyd George---decided as to the disposition of the former German colonies as follows:

Togoland and Cameroon---France and Great Britain shall make a joint recommendation to the League of Nations as to their future.

German East Africa---The mandate shall be held by Great Britain.

German Southwest Africa---The mandate shall be held by the Union of South Africa.

The German Samoan Islands---The mandate shall be held by New Zealand.

The other German Pacific possessions south of the equator, excluding the German Samoan Islands and Nauru---The mandate shall be held by Australia.

Nauru (Pleasant) Island---The mandate shall be given to the British Empire.

The German Pacific Islands north of the equator---The mandate shall be held by Japan.---(Announcement by Associated Press, May 8, 1919, as the official communication of the Peace Conference.)

Chapter Footnotes

1. The four nations selected to choose representatives to the Council to aid in preparing plans for the organization of the League, are Belgium, Brazil, Greece and Spain. (President Wilson's Address at the Plenary Session, April 28, 1919.)

2. Sir James Eric Drummond was appointed the first Secretary-General of the Council. (President Wilson's address at the Plenary Session, April 28, 1919.)

Chapter Nine

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