SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXIX, Issue 9650, 5 July 1919, Page 5

SPEECH IN PARLIAMENT.

Vleague-'of nations upheld.

fIIBUTE TO BOMfONS.

(Aus. & N.Z., Cable Jkssn. <& Renter.;

LONDON, July 3. The Ho'ose -1& Commons was crowded Mr Lloyd George addressed the House -on the Peace Treaty,! The Prince •of Wales was in the Peers' Gailery. The Premier was enthusiastically welcomed. Ho said he had to lay on the 'table.' -t>vo Bills, to enforce ;'a "momentous -document to which the -seal of -the British Empire' had been itSixed. ■Oae Was ;to give effect to the provisions of *he Treaty, the other to obtain the sanction to the Anglo-French *Oonventfen.

He 8-vid the terms -©i"the Treaty •were ha many rekpeots terrible, but so were the' deeds and eonsequencea thereof inflicted upon the world. The iiatter would have been more terrible ihad -Germany. succeeded. The terms of . 'the Treaty were stern- but .just. After •describing Germany's great 'downfall 'the. Premier emphasised 'the . justness -of >tho restoratiea 4>f ,A'lsaeei_orrai_e, Schleswig-Holsteiin, and xPoland, also •the justness of the reparation terms, •concerning which he declared that if .the whole post of the -war had been ■thrown upon Germa,ny it .would have ■accorded with every principle >©f civil .jurisprudence. He then emphasised the justice of the disarmament of Germany and deprivation of her colonies. 'Concerning tlie latter he emphasised the fact thai there was most overwhelming evidemce that Germany cruelly iilttrea-ted natives, and in face of - this the- restoration of those colonies (especially in -view of the part the natives had taken in their own liberation, thus giving /Germany an ■opportunity to make reprisals) it would have been a ■base to restore the colonies to Germany. The Premier pointed out .that "Germany used her colonies in South .Africa in order to stir up sedition, .and rebellion against the South African Union, and used her, colonies elsewhere as bases for preying on the 'commerce of adjacent colonies. "It. would have been foWy if we had renewed, Germany's," opportunities for mischief." The tribunal in London to try .the Kaiser would, he said, be an inter-Allied one. (Cheers.) Officers guilty of submarine outrages would be tried, ithey-would. get absolutely fair trial. (Cheers.) Ho challenged anyone to point out . a single act of injustice in the Peace, terms, anything .on which any perfectly impartial court would not have adjudicated in exactly the same. way. Referring to criticisms that though individual conditions. might be right the cumulative 'effect was 'crushing, and that the Treaty, though it might be just might not be v/ise, Mr Lloyd George emphasised the heiinousness of Germany's offence^ and also tho fact that Germany sufrered less than other countries in the war. Germany's crime must be marked. The world could not take these risks again. The German people were not being punished for the crime of their rulers, for the German 3>eople had unitedly and enthusiastically approved of the war. He unhesitatingly challenged anyone to point to a single clause in the Treaty which did not accord with the stern and highest demands of justice and fair play. "We were determined that tlie 'Treaty should not be a scrap of paper." The guarantees included the disarmament of Germany and the destruction of arsenals. The . British delegates ' without hesitation proposed that the reduced German army should be voluntary and long service, thus leaving the mass of people untrained and render- • ing it impossible for Germany to raise huge armies. The same applied to the navy. He proposed to introduce a Bill dealing with Anglo-American guarantees in the event of an unprovoked attack on Prance. (Cheers.) France had legitimate reason for serious apprehension when Britain and America had gone home and the gallant men of the Dominions-—(cheers) — who had fought so bravely in FranceAustralians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Canadians, all of whom had won the deepest affection of the French people—when these had departed and France saw only the Rhine between her and the foe who had trampled her ruthlessly and torn her ilesh twice. ' within. living memory. France said: We would like to know that you Britons and Americana who helped to emancipate our soil are still behind us against, wanton a-ggression." He invited Parliament to say "Yes." (Cheers.) Ho did. not agree that that would show lack of faith in the League of Nations. Tho latter would be valueless unless it had tho sanction behind it of strong nation© prepared to stop aggression at a moment's notice. The document only bound us in the case of wanton provocation by Germany. Tho other guarantee was the army of occupation. France did not wish to keep an army on the Rhine a single day longer than was absolutely necessary,. and. if Germany showed goodwill and gave the necessary guarantees France was quite , prepared to reconsider the question ef occupation at the proper moment. Britain was directly interested in the question of the cost of the army of, occupation, because she did not wish to impose an unnecessary expense upon Germany which would be the first charge upon the indemnity fund. The Government had an understanding with France j that the moment Germany carried out j her undertaking with regard to dis- ; armament the cost of the army of occupation should not exceed,24o million markß. The agreement on this matter had been signed by Mr Wilson, M. Clemenceau and himself. It required no ratification. - - :""/" Lastly there was the guarantee of • t£e League -of Nations, a great and , > "hopeful experiment, which was only •' rendered possible by the other conditions of peace. It was due to the world to try the. experiment earnestly. The . League unfortunately did not mean that we would never have war. It would be justified if it prevented one war. fChcers). He begged that no-

body w&uld sneer _t "the (Loud ■'■cheers /espeoiaSly from the La-» hour beaaclies)! H© believed the e_perhrieat would /succeedj, 'that tho League would ''hisko crime difficult and unsiKicesst'ul; therefore he looked hopefully and confidently to the League for greater tilings for humanity. He expressed the opinion tliat the immediate adsaission of Germany to the League would be a mistake. If Germany created obstacles„and ..showed that the same old spirit animated .her she would not ©ccolerate the date; but,, if. she reallyshowed that -she had broken with her "pas£, that tl>o fires of war had purified her souli and that she realised that the policy of the last fifty .years-had- been a bitter mistake, then „she. could ac-. celerato the date. The sooner that came about the better it Would he for Germany end - the EWorld v" •'

R-cf erring /to '; the German* / colonies, tho Premier said these would' not be distributed -among the ctonqaorors, but would be ':-_dmini'stere_'::by*-; the: Great Powers on behalf of 'humanity.'' , The mandatory powers would difFer. according to >«the r. particular T.ierritbry cour corned. For example, ' South-West Africa, running asit did'alongside the Cape, was .fejt to be so .much a part geographically" of .that country" that it would be'quite impossible, to treat it in tho same way aa a qblony 'removed two or three thousand miles from the centre of • the mandatory administration. Doubtless South-West Africa would become an integral part of the, federation of' South Africa.: as it would be colonised by South. Africans. , They could not have done anything else, for they could not set up; Qußtpms barriers ana different .systems, of administration. "The same applied to New Guinea, but did not apply to Togoland, tho Cameroon's, or = German JBast Africa. It would "be found that the conditions of the mandates set up for .these territories were the same as applied to British colonies over the whole world. The responsibilities of the British Empire under this mandate were enormously increased. • Something like eight hundred thousand square miles had been added to the already gigantic charge on the Empire's shoulders, a charge which had been undoubtedly fulfilled in a w-ay which had won. the wonder of the whole world. " 1( ' Referring to the Labour' Conference Mr .Lloyd George said it was a matter of raost,vital importance' for. the world's future industrial conditions; and when it was borne in mind'- that at least three-quarters of, theViinhies that' won the great victory were drawn from, the working classes of the various nations, it was felt that* they had won a right to a corner of their own. He was glad that it was largely through the initiation of Mr Barnes that this charter, was added to the Treaty.;He hoped tins machinery would enable the establishment of some permanent means of raisr ing the level of labour over tho whole world, and not handicapping countries where Labour was well treated in competition in neutral markets with countries where tho conditions of labour were inferior. That was the geat purpose of this great charter. He proceeded to emphasise that no country had a greater share in the tremendous victory of the Allies than tho British Empire. He pointed out that the Empire had raised 7,700,000 soldiers and sailors. (Loud cheers). It had raised war loans totalling 9,500 millions sterling. The casualties of the Empire forces totalled over three millions, not including sailors, of whom fifteen thousand were killed. The Navy and the mercantile marine kept the sea, and without them, the war would have collapsed in six months. During the last two years of the war Britain not only bore the heaviest burden of the fighting in France but the whole burden of the attack on Turkey, .which had crumbled to dust. ..(Cheers). It was a great record, and showed what could be achieved by a great people, united and inspired' by a common cause. '" "Let us rejoice, like men. who are under no delusion that our troubles are past, and the spirit - which enabled us to overcome will also enable us not waste our strength:; prematurely in fighting each other." »-..- .-.-'_ The Premier most ■ solemnly declared that in order to prevent the country sinking under its burdens and wounds, "We must most effectively use the resources of Britain and the Empire, and make all reasonable men contented. He .urged the people to support the Victory loan. In order to reap the fruits of victory, .each must give such strength, goodwill and co-operation as he could. He ridiculed the idea that a new peace had come, and that all would go right without effort. He pointed out that output had diminished and the cost of production had increased. That was exactly the opposite road to the road leading to prosperity, as even Bolsheviki in Russia" had begun to discover. ■'■""* He concluded by appealing for cooperation and the maintenance of that spirit of patriotism which alone could brings us to a real glorious triumph. (Loud cheers).