SIGNINGTHE TEATY.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14984, 11 August 1919, Page 9

SIGNINGTHE TEATY.

Ceremony at vesailles. /" VERSAILLES, June Had the Allied arid Associ|ed Powers signed the peace terras hei\ to-day m the same imperial hall whei\the Germans humbled the French soVnominiously 48 years ago. J This formally ended the wild war which lasted just 37 days less {an five years. To-day, the day of peaci is tho fifth anniversary of the murder <j Archduke Francis Ferdinand at Sarjevo. The ceremoily of signing th peace terms was brief. Premier Cleienceau called the session to order m te Hall of Mirrors of the Chateau of Vrsailles at 3.10 o'clock. The signing began when Dr. Hermann Mueller andjohans nes Bell, the German signatories, xffixed their names. Herr Muelter.. sighted at 3.12 o'clock and Herr Bell at 3.13 o'clock, PresktaYft, Wilson, first >f the Allied d<eh?£a ! t'es, signed a minutp later. •At fiftb o'clock the momentous Session Nvas concluded. All the diplomats and member of their parties wore conventional civilian clothes. Tliere was a marked lack of gold lace and pageantry. There were few of the fanciful uniforms of the Middle Ages whose traditions and practices are so sternly , condemned m the great, seal-covfcretl- document sighed today. ■ , . A spot of dllor Was mado against this sombre batekgroumj by the French Guards. A few selected members of the GuAvd were resplendent, m their ved»plumed silver helmets and red, white and blue uniforms. As a contrast with the Franco-Ger-man peace session of 1871, held m the same hall, there were present to-day grizzled French veterans of the FrancoPrussian war. They replaced the Prussian Guardsmen of the previous ceremony,- and the Frenchmen to-day watched the ceremony with grim satisfaction. The conditions of 1871 were exactly reversed. To-day the disciples of Bismarck sat m the seats of the lowly while the white marble statue of Minerva, Goddess of War, looked on. Overhead on the frescoed ceiling,, were scenes from France's ancient wars. CHINA FAILS TO AFFIX SIGNATURE. The smoothness with which the ceremony was conducted had some ruffles. The first of these was the failure of the Chinese delegation to sign. The second was the. protest submitted by Gen. Jan Christian * Smuts, who declared the peace unsatisfactory. The third, unknown to the general public, came from the Germans. When thß programme for the ceremony was shown to the German delegation, Hew von Haimhansen, of the German delegation, went to Col. Henri, French liaison officer, and protested. He said : "We cannot admit that the German delegation should enter the hall by a different door than the Entente delegates; nor that military honors should be withheld. ' Had we known there would be such arrangements before, the delegates would not have come."

After a conference with the French Foreign Ministry it was decided as a compromise, to render military honors as the Germans left. Otherwise the programme was not changed. One of the picturesque features of the preliminaries to the ceremony was . the entry into the hall at 1 o'clock of a squad of dismounted Hussars of the Republican Guard, giants m stature, who stationed themselves at either end of the space occupied by' the plenipotentiaries, forming a wall between the delegates and the spectators. While they contributed much to the picturesqueness of the setting, their presence rendered it almost impossible for those behind them to see much of the proceeding. By the time the session was open, however, Uhe guards were given an order to about face, which they did, and filed out of the hall, much to the relief of those whose view had been out off. .

The epochal meeting m the Hall of Mirrors began at 3.10 o'clock. This treaty was. signed by Dr. Hermann Mueller at 3.12 o'clock and by Johannes Betl at 3.13 p.m. They were followed by the American • delegates, headed by President Wilson, and then by the plenipotentiaries of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Japan. The representatives of the minor powers signed m alphabetical order. WILSON SEES A NEW ERA IF TREATY IS RATIFIED. WASHINGTON, June 28.— As soon as he had signed the peace treaty President Wilson cabled from Versailles a proclamation of peace to the American people, which was issued at the White House this afternoon as follows r* 2 - MY FELLOW COUNTRYMEN : The treaty of peace has been signed. If it is ratified and acted upon m full and sincere execution of its terms it wBl furnish the charter for a new order of affairs m the world. , It is a severe treaty m the duties and penalties it imposes upon Germany, but it is severe only because great wrongs done by Germany are to be righted and repaired ;it imposes nothing that German}- cannot do; and she can regain her rightful standing m the world by the prompt and honorable fulfilment of its terms. SMUTS SIGNS UNDER PROTEST. Gen. Jan Christian Smuts, one of the delegates representing the Union of South Africa, signed the treaty under protest. He objected to certain territorial settlements, making a lengthy statement. Gen. Smuts said that the indemnities stipulated could not be accepted without grave injuries to 'the in-, dustrial revival of Europe. He declared it would be to the interests of the Allied Powers to render the stipulations more tolerable and moderate. In his protest, Gen. Smuts declared that there were territorial settlements whnch he believed would need revision, and that there were guarantees provided which he hoped -would soon be found out of harmony with the new peaceful temper and unarmed state of the Central Powers. Punishments were also foreshadowed, he said, over which a calmer mood might yet prefer to pass the sponge of oblivion. The protocol was signed by all those who signed the treaty. The Rhine arrangement was signed by the Germans, Americans, Belgians, British, and French plenipotentiaries. At 3.44 o'clock cannon began to boom announcing the completion of the ceremony of signing. The signatures had not, however, as a matter of fact, then been - completed, for at that time the smaller nations were still signing m alphabetical ordi«r. The proceedings were formally closed a,t 3.49 o'clock. BIG THREE ARE CHEERED MADLY.

As Premier Clemenceau, President Wilson, and Premier Lloyd George emerged from the palace, the great crowd gathered outside swept aside the coi-don of troops, cheering madly. The three statesmen were swept along by the surging thousands. Many soldiers broke ranks, and joined m the demonstration, while guns boomed and low-flying aeroplanes seemed to fill the air. The Germa.n delegates leffc the hall first, the Allied representatives remaining m their seats. Those who had asscinbledv/in the hall then went to the turrace to see the fountains playing. Premiers Olemenoeau and Lljoyd George and President Wilson were photographed v togetheE on the terrace. After the demonstration, the three Allied ieaders left Versailles m the same automobile, the crowds following and cheering. CROWDS BEGIN TO ASSEMBLE EARLY. The scene around the Versailles Pa la?p was an animated one from an early hour. A» the morning wore on the crowds kept increasing m size, but the

vast spaces around the chateau swallow- ', ed them up at first. By noon eleven regiments of French cavalry and infantry under command of General Brecard had taken iip positions along the approaches to the palace, while within the great court on either side solid lines of infantry m horizon blue were drawn up at attention. '

j Long before the ceremony began a line of gendarmes was thrown across the approaches. While theoretically only persons bearing passes could get through this line, the crowds gradually filtered into and finally filled the square. Within this square hundreds of fortunate persons had taken up positions at the windows of every wing of the palace. By 1.30 o'clock flocks of motor cars began, to arrive laden with delegates, officials, and distinguished guests. Tire automobiles bearing delegate's' and secretaries had reserved for their use the Avenue dv Paris, the broad boulevard leading direct to the chateau's court of honor., French soldiers being ranged along the highway on both sides. At the end of the court a guard of honor was drawn up to present arms as the leading plenipotentiaries passed, this guard comprising a company of Republican Guards m brilliant uniform. The entrance for the delegates was by the marble stairway to the "Queeirs Apartments' 1 aiid the Hall of. Peace; giving" afceess thence to 1 the Hall of Mirrors., The walls of these apartments were hung with unique Gobelin tapestries. [ The route to the peace table for the plenipotentiaries was through a space reserved for some 400 privileged guests who were instructed to be m their seats well m advance of the entry of the delegates. It had, been arranged that the delegations, instead of strangling m- without order, as when the original terms of peace were communicated to the Germans, should enter by groups, • each one being formally announced by ushers from the French Foreijm Office. GERMANS GIVEN SEPARATE , ROUTE.' j This formality was not prescribed for the Germans, who were given a separate route of entry, coming through tho park and gaining the marble Btairway ( through the ground floor. There was thus avoidance of occasion for the guard of honor to render them military honors, j these being reserved for the Allied representatives. The dismounted Guards- I men on the marble staircase •■ and m- ( Queen's apartments, however, were instructed to remain m their places for the entry of the Germans. I Within the Hall of Mirrors, where the historical furnishings and paintings gave a tone of impressive state which would otherwise hay.6 been rather lactkinifz; m the assemblage of soberly attired delegates, seventy-two chairs for the plenipotentiaries were drawn up around three sides of the table, which formed an open rectangle eighty feet m length on its longer side. A chair for M. Clemenceau, President of the 1 Peace Conference, was placed m the centre of the long table, facing the windows, with those for President Wilson and Premier Lloyd George on the right and lieft hand respectively. The German delegates were assigned seats at the side of the table nearest the entrance, which they could take after all the others had been seated. They touched elbows with the Japanese plenipotentiaries on their right and the Brazilians on their left. The delegates from Ecuador, Peru, and Liberia faced the Germans across the narrow table.

When the detachments of fifteen soldiers each from the American, British, and French forces entered the hall, shortly before 3 o'clock, and took their places at the windows, Premier Clemenceau stepped up to the French detachment and shook the hand of each man. The men had been selected from those who bore honorable wounds, and the Premier expressed his pleasure at seeing them there and his regret for the sufferings they had endured for their country.

There was some little difficulty in' the section of the hall reserved for the Press, because of overcrowding., and persons on the front rows, m their eagerness to see, stood up upon tlie benches, cutting off the view of thpse behind. Energetic efforts by the officials, however, finally succeeded m restoring a fair measure of order m the press enclosure and the reserved sections at either end of the hall, where there also had been some commotion.