SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 160811, 19 November 1920, Page 4

SOMETHING ACCOMPLISHED.

la cursorily glancing at conditions as they obtain in Europe and Asia just now—unrest and fighting in Russia, the Baltic provinces, the Balkans, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and elsewhere —one is apt to forget what has been accomplished and to lay undue stress on Germany’s evasion of Treaty obligations.. The truth is the Treaty stands’ almost wholly lntac£. True, Germany has failed to comply in detail with some of the provisions, but others have been fulfilled. Much might be said, for instance—and this is not the least important consideration—of the permanent crippling of Germany’s military power. Heligoland has been dismantled; the fortresses east of the Rhine have been demolished; gun's, airplanes, Zeppelins, battleships have been turned over for destruction to.the Allies, while the work of internal disarmament has steadily progressed. A recent London cable stated that up to the present Germany has surrendered 33,500 howitzers and field guns and 1200 fortress guns, and only 2500 are left, and these will probably be destroyed by the end of this month. Both '‘British and French' Military Commissions. in Germany have reported that she is doing her best to live up to her undertakings in the matter of armament. Take the case of territorial ..changes. . They have riot been modified, though it has to be confessed ■ there is still considerable dissatisfaction amongst, several of the (nations affected. Alsace-Lorraine is French again; the Saar Valley is administered by a

Commission under the League of Nations; Posen belongs to Poland; Belgium is in possession of her slight additions of territory; Roumania has got back her old territory; Danzig is a free city; one Schleswig zone has voted Itself Danish, the other German; and the plebiscite in Upper Silesia is to be taken in due time. All these changes have been made in pursuance of a Treaty which some folk suggest Is obsolete and wholly incapable of enforcement. Furthermore, there) is no alteration of the Treaty in respect to prisoners of war, ports, railroads, waterways, and so forth. Like the League, the “dead Treaty" Is very much alive. A few of the clauses are tacitly in abeyance, and others are to be modified, as the Treaty itself foresaw that it might be necessary to modify It. As for the “war criminals,” the Government of the Netherlands was duly called upon to deliver up the Kaiser, but when it refused the Allies thanked God that they were rid of k knave and let the matter drop. In respect to the other men charged with war crimes, the German Courts themselves have the matter in hand. The deliveries of coal which Germany was to make have been lowered in amount by the Supreme Council, and the exact total of the German indemnity is yet to be fixed, and will probably be dealt with in the course of the next few weeks. On the whole, therefore, there is reasonable ground for hope that, as the Treaty has accomplished so much, tha Lea-gue will continue the good work and fully justify its existence.