ALSACE-LORRAINE AGAIN PART OF FRANCE

Otago Witness, Issue 3400, 14 May 1919, Page 17

ALSACE-LORRAINE AGAIN PART OF FRANCE

RECOGNITION OF NEW EASTERN STATES LONDON, May 7. Following is the official summary of the Peace Treaty. It consists of a descriptive introSion, preamble, and 15 sections. The text begins with a descriptive intro T\ U e C t a ft°oflLTeX y of Peace now handed to the Germans is designed in the first instance to set forth the conditions upon which alone the Allied and Associated Powers will make peace with Germany, and in the second place to establish those international arrangements which the Allies have devised for the prevention of wars in future and for the betterment of mankind. For this latter reason it includes the covenant of the League of Nations and the International Labour Convention. > lhe draft treaty, however, does not deal, except incidentally with the problems arising out of the liquidation of the Austrian Empire, nor with the territories of the two ehemv Powers, Turkey and Bulgaria, except in so far as it binds Germany to accept whatever subsequent settlement is made and decided upon by the Allies in the case of these belligerents. The treaty is divided into 15 sections. . The first section contains the Covenant of the League of Nations, to which functions are assigned in various places by the treaty. . The second section describes the geographical frontiers, of Germany, beginning at the north-eastern point of the present Belgian frontier The third section, which consists of 12 clauses, binds the Germans to accept the political changes in Europe brought about by the treaty. It establishes TWO NEW STATES, Czecho-Slovakia and Poland, and provides for their recognition. It revises the basis or Belgian sovereignty and alters the boundaries of Belgium. It establishes new systems of Government in Luxemburg and the Saar Basin. It restores AlsaceLorraine to France. It provides for possible additions of territory to Denmark. It binds Germany to recognise the independence and firman of Austria and to accept the conditions to be laid down as to those States or Governments which have created themselves since the Russian Revolution. The fourth section deals with the political reconstruction of territories outside Europe affected by the war. It contains A GENERAL RENUNCIATION > on the part of Germany of her possessions and rights abroad. By it she yields her colonies to the Allies, together with her rights in Africa under the various International Conventions, particularly the Berlin Act of 1885 and the Brussels Act of 1895, which have regulated European enterprise in tropical Africa. This section gives international recognition to the British Protectorate in Egypt and annuls the Act of Algeciras, which was one step in the German policy of aggression which led to the. war. The fifth section sets forth the military, naval, „and air conditions of peace, limits the size of the German army and navy, and abolishes compulsory recruiting in Germany as a first step towards a general disarmament. The sixth section imposes on all signatory Powers the obligation to maintain all graves of the fallen, and regulates the return of prisoners of war. The seventh section deals with responsibilities and punishments, and provides for the trial of the ex-Emperor William. RESTITUTION BY GERMANY. The eighth section sets forth the reparation and restitution to be made by Germany, and contains special provisions relating to documents and war trophies seized by the Germans in earlier wars. The ninth section contains financial clauses mainly designed to put into operation the provisions of the previous section. The tenth section, which is of great length and complexity, contain economic provisions, and re-establishes various non-political international treaties and conventions which, in such matters as posts and telegraphs and sanitary regulations, have been binding on civilised Powers before the war. Attached to this section is a special provision to l'egulate the traffic in opium and similar drugs. The eleventh section deals with aerial navigation. CONTROL OF TRANSPORT WAYS. The twelfth section contains clauses dealing with international control of ports, canals, rivers, and railways, with a special provision for the Kiel Canal. The thirteenth section contains the Labour Convention. The fourteenth section contains guarantees for the execution of the treaty. The fifteenth section is made up of a series of miscellaneous clauses, including the recognition of other subsequent treaties of peace and the confirmation of Prize Court decisions The final clauses deal with the ratification and date of entering into force of the treaty, both the French and English texts of which are recognised as authentic. INTRODUCTION PREAMBLE. The preamble, which recites shortly the origin of the war and the application of the Germans for an armistice, enumerates the high contracting parties represented by the five Great Powers—the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan—together with Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, the Hedjaz, Honduras, Siberia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Serbia,' Siam, Czecho-Slovakia, and Uruguay on the one hand, and Germany on the other hand. The plenipotentiaries representing these Powers are enumerated, " who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and true form, have agreed as follows: " From the coming into force of the present treaty the state of war will terminate from that moment 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 Associated Powers." ■