THE PEACE RATIFICATION

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14263, 14 January 1920, Page 5

THE PEACE RATIFICATION

AMERICA’S NOTABLE ABSENCE. HANDING OVER WAR CRIMINALS. REVISED LISTS SUPPLIED. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received January 13, 9.20 p.rn. PARIS, Jan. 10. Peace was ratified in the Salon del Horlogo, a small room in which the League of Nations was born. The ceremony took place punctually at four o'clock. The proceedings were brief, formal, and private. The protocol was read, and then the seals of the Allied and German delegates were affixed. M. Clemcnceau afterwards handed to the German delegates a letter confirming a verbal assurance in reference to dock material.

No outside witnesses attended, and this was the first occasion of note when the American Ambassador has been absen t. ■

No descriptive details of the signing are- available, but it is understood that the Allied delegates, after signing, shook hands with the Germans. Arrangements for the renewal of diplomatic relations will begin immediately. About a dozen commissions will immediately be established to supervise the carrying out of the Treaty, which, by the protocol, Germany promises to execute in its entirety.

Although America will not participate in the first meeting, it is Mr Wilson’s duly to summon the League next week. It is pointed out that one of the first obligations is that Germany is to hand over those accused of war crimes, the number of whom is uncertain. Some reports say 750, and others 300. The revised British list numbers 100, and includes the ex-Kaiser, fhany commanders of submarines, the judges who sentenced Captain Fryatt, and the commandants of several prison camps. The French list includes the Crown Prince and the generals who ordered the outrages at Louvain, Dinant and Aershot.