TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 58, Issue 301, 1 October 1938, Page 7

TERMS AND CONDITIONS.

OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUE ISSUED. MINORITIES AND GUARANTEES. ANGLO-FRENCH UNDERTAKING. (United Press Association—Copyright.; MUNICH, September 30. The full text of the official communique is as follows: “Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy, taking into consideration the agreement already reached in principle for the cession to Germany of the Sudeten German territory, have agreed upon the following terms and conditions which shall govern the cession and measures consequent thereon, and by this agreement hold themselves responsible for the steps necessary to secure their fulfilment:— (1) The evacuation of the territories shall begin on October 1. (2) Britain, France and Italy agree that the evacuation shall he completed by October 10 without the destruction of any existing installations, and that Czechoslovakia shall bear the responsibility of seeing that the evacuation is carried out without damage to the aforesaid installations.

(3) The conditions governing the evacuation will be laid down in detail by an international commission composed of representatives of Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Czechoslovakia. (4) The occupation by stages of the predominantly German territory by German troops shall begin on October 1, the four territories marked on the attached map being occupied by German troops in the following order (it then sets out dates for occupation from October 1 to October 7, viz., the first territory, October 1 and October 2, the sec- ' ond territory, October 2 and October 3, the third territory, October 4 and October 5, and the fourth territory, October 6 and October 7). (5) The commission referred to in (3) will determine the territories in which plebiscites are to be held. These will be occupied by international bodies until the plebiscites are completed. The commission will also fix the conditions for holding the plebiscite, taking the Saar plebiscite as the basis, and will also fix a date not later than November 30 for the plebiscite. (6) The final determination of frontiers will be cleared up by the commission, which will be entitled to re- ' commend to Britain, Germany, France and Italy, in certain exceptional cases, minor modifications in the strictly ethnological determination of zones to be transferred without a plebiscite. (7) There shall be a right of transfer into and out of the transferred territory, exercisable within six months of the date of this agreement. A German-Czech commission shall determine the details of the option and consider ways of facilitating the transfer of populations and settle questions of principle arising out of the transfers. (8) The Czech Government within one month of the agreement will release from its military and police forces any Sudetens so desiring, and will also release Sudeten political prisoners.

In an annex to the agreement it is stated that Britain and France entered into an agreement standing by their offer of Paragraph 6 of the BritishFrench proposals of September 19, relating to an international guarantee for the new boundaries of the Czech State against unprovoked aggression. The annex adds that when the questions of the Polish ancl Hungarian minorities are settled Italy and Germany will give a guarantee to Czechoslovakia. If the Polish and Hungarian minorities problems are not settled within three months by an agreement between the respective Governments, they will be reconsidered at another Four-Power Conference. x A supplementary declaration says: “All questions arising out of the transfer of territories shall be considered as coming within the terms of reference of the international commission.” The commission referred to in Clause (3) will consist of the German Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, the French, British, and Italian Ambassadors in Berlin and also a Czech representative.