THE MANDATES.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17114, 8 April 1921, Page 7

THE MANDATES.

v ATTITUDE OF AMERICA. ALLIES' EIGHTS CHALLENGED. (By Cable—Press Association—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received April 7th, 7.55 p.m.) WASHINGTON, April 6. The State Department has published the Mandate Note, which declares that the fact that the United States has not ratified the Treaty of Versailles does not detract from the rights already acquired through the war. The Note adds: "It will not he questioned that the right to dispose of the oversea'possessions of Germany wa's acquired only through the victories of the Allied and Associated Powers, and it is believed that there is no disposition on the part of the Allies to k deny the United States participation in those victories." The Note concludes that it is manifest that the League of Nations was without authority to bind the United States in the mandate over Yap. Moreover, the confirmation of the mandate and the definition of its terms by the Council of the League of Nations in December, 1920, cannot be regarded as having efficacy in respect to the United States.

The Note was sent specifically as a reply to the latest British Note regarding Mesopotamia, but copies were also forwarded to other Powers.

It is officially announced that the Note was sent to Great Britain, France, Japan, and Italy. • The stand taken by Mr Hughes, Secretary of State, regarding Yap and the mandates generally, represents the .American Government's attitude under the new Administration respecting the disposition of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine, German Africa, and the German islands north and south of the equator. It means that the American Government challenges the right of the Allies to make dispositions of former German territories as they please. The Australian Press Association learns that while the United States questions all the mandates, it is not believed that the Harding Administration desires to negate the British Dominions' mandates over South Pacific territories. Republican sentiment generally favours Australian, New Zealand | and South African suzerainty in territories over whwh mandates have already been granted.