A TREATY WITH IRAK.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18690, 22 April 1924, Page 6

A TREATY WITH IRAK.

To find agitators at work in Irak against ratification of the treaty with Britain is not surprising. Irak is one of those countries where agitation is the most popular occupation. The grounds of objection are somewhat surprising, however. It is argued that Britain does not guarantee the frontier of this Arab State, and that the financial undertakings are too small in proportion to the responsibilities of King Feisul's Government. When the treaty was signed in October, 1922, it was denounced in Britain on the grounds that it committed the Empire to indefinite obligations in defending the Mesopotamian frontier, and entailed large but vague financial commitments. The two views could not conceivably be in more complete opposition. The purpose of this treaty is to incorporate the terms of the mandate which Britain holds from the League of Nations. The feeling in Irak was that to be controlled under mandate was derogatory to the dignity of the new State, a negation of the independence which was craved. To meet this feeling Britain agreed to the treaty. It defined relations similar to those established by the mandate. A significant clause cmbodied a British undertaking to use all good offices " to secure the admission of Irak to membership of the League of Nations as soon as possible." That was important even then, when the stipulated term of the treaty was 20 years' from ratification. By a subsequent protocol, the term of the treaty was made to the date of admission of Irak to the League of Nations, or four years from the ratification of peace with Turkey, whichever was the shorter. It was admitted that the Irak Assembly could vary the terms of neither treaty nor protocol. Both must be accepted or rejected in their entirety. So far as can be gathered, therefore, the present move in Bagdad will result in the destruction of the treaty, and the return of Irak to the status of a country under mandate. It is. impossible to conceive how that result will serve the purpose of those.responsible for the present agitation.