Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1924 THE COLOGNE ZONE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 30 December 1924, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1924 THE COLOGNE ZONE

TIIE somewhat sensational disclosure made, last week, by the Parisian journal Eclair, .in conned ion with France s sense of insecurity and M. Harriot s failure to extract from Mr Ramsay MacDonald guarantees of France's, security, is explained by the decision of the conference of the Allies’ Ambassadors at Paris. They have decided unanimously to notify Germany that, it is impossible to evacuate the Cologne Zone on January 10th.

By Article 420 of the Versailles Treaty it was agreed that as a- guarantee R>r the execution of that treaty by Germany, certain German teiritoiy situated to the west of the Rhine, • together with the bridgeheads at Mainz, Coblenz and Cologne, were to be occupied by Allied and Associated troops for a period of fifteen years. But Article 429 provides that, “If the conditions of the present treaty aie faithfully carried out by Germany, the occupation referred to in Article 428 will he successively restricted as follows :

‘•(i). At the expiration of five years, there will he evacuated :—I lie, bridgehead of Cologne and the -territories north <ift a line running along the linin’, then along the railway Julieli, Durcn, Euskirelien, Rlieinlrach .... and reaching the Rhine at the confluence with the Ahr. . . . *-(ii) At the expiration of ten years, there will be evacuated The bridgehead of Coblenz and- the territories north of a lino to be drawn from the intersection between the frontiers of Belgium, Germany and Holland. . . “(iii) At the expiration of fifteen years there will he evacuated :—The bridgehead of the Mainz, the bridge head of Kelil and the remainder <*£ the German territory under occupation., “If at that, date the guarantees against unprovoked aggression by Germany are not considered sufficient by the Allied and Associated Governments, the evacuation of the occupying troops may be delayed to the extent regarded as necessary for the purpose of obtaining the required guarantees.” It is under clause (i) of Article 429, quoted above, that, in ordinary circumstances the Cologne zone would be evacuated on the 10th of January next, but tile collective note of the Allied Powers, including Italy and Japan, postponing the evacuation of Cologne asserts, first, that the Allied Powers are awaiting the report of the Commission of Control which is expected at the end’ of January, and, second, that, evidence lias already been received of Germany’s nonfulfilment of tlie disarmament clauses of tlie Treaty of Versailles. It is •commonly reported that the Commission of Control has located large supplies of arms in Germany in excess of the quantity stipulated by the Treaty.

Article 160 of the Treaty limits the army of the States constituting Germany to a total of 100,000 men, including officers and establishments of depots. And Article 180 limits Thp stocks of arms and ammunition in Germany’s possession to 84,000 rifles, 18,000 carbines, 792 heavy machine guns, 1134 light machine guns, 63 medium trench mortars, 189 light trench mortars, 204 field guns, and 84f howitzers, and stipulates the amount of ammunition which Germany shall hold for the service of these weapons. If therefore the Commission of Control has discovered arms and ammunition in excess of the quotas stipulated, grounds would exist for delaying the operation of clause (i) of Article 429, quoted above, referring to the evacuation of the Cologne zone.

The Cologne zonfc is occupied by British troops, and it is known that the British Government is anxious to withdraw its army of occupation from German territory us soon as possible. But it would seem that M- BcrrioL has force ! the British Government’s hand by producing to the Conference of Ambassadors at Paris such evidence as indicates that Germany has not fulfilled the stipulations as to disarmament.

Tt is to be. noted that the Ambassadors were reported to be unanimous in their finding, and that Britain, whatever her individual wishes may he, must perforce support her Allies, if it is conclusively proved that Germany is in possession of arms and ammunition in excess of the amounts stipulated. The report of the Commission of Control will he awaited with interest. But until that document is published it would he quite inappropriate to question the finding of the Ambassadors’ Conference, or to criticise the wording of the note which they are despatching to Germany.