THE PEACE TREATY.

Taihape Daily Times, 7 July 1919, Page 3

THE PEACE TREATY.

-MR. LLOYD, GEORGE ADDRESSES . THE . COMMONS. ANGLO-AMERICAN ALLIANCE TO!‘ PROTECT FRANCE. KAISER TO BE TRIED IN ‘ LONDON_ 3 LONDON, July 3. The House of Commons was crowaed when Mr. Lloyd George addressed the House on the Peace Treaty. The Prince of Wales was in the Peers’ gallery. The Premier was enthusiastically Welcomed. He said he had to lay on the table two Bills to enforce the momentous document to which the seal of the British" Empire had been affixed. One was to give efiect to the pl'oViSiol’l;3 of the Treaty, the other to obtain sanction to an Anglo-French convention. The Premier paid a tribute to the services of Mr. Barnes and the overseas representatives_ Mr. Lloyd George said the terms were in many respects terrible, but so were the deeds and the consequences thereof inflicted upon the world. The latter would. have been more terrible had Germany succeeded. The terms of the Treaty were STERN, BUT JUST. ‘After describing G.erln’aTly’s great downfall the Premier emphasised the justness of the restoration of AlsaceLorrtggne, Schleswig-Holste‘ln and Poland, also the justness of the reparation terms, concerning which he declarod that if the whnln Wl6‘ oi’ the war had been thl'oWll upon Germany, it would have accorded with every principle of civil jurisprudence. He then emphasised the justice of -' the disarmament of Germany and the deprivation of her colonies. Concern-

ing the latter, he emphasised the fact that there was most overwhelming evidence that Germany had .eruelly ill~treated the natives, and in the face of this, the restoration of these colonies (especially in View of the part the natives, had taken -in their own liberation, thus giving Germany opportunity to make reprisals) would have been a base betrayal. The Premier pointed out that Germany used her colonies in South Africa in order to stir up sedition and rebellion against the South African Union, and used her colonies elsewhere, a§ bases for preying on the commerce Of adjacent colonies. It would have been folly if we had renewed Germally’s opportunities for mischief. A tribunal in London TO TRY THE KAISER would be an inter‘-A‘i'iied one_ (Cheers) Officers guilty of submarine outrages would be tried. They would get an absolutely fair trial. (Cheers.) The

Premier challenged?” anyone to point out a.’ single act ‘ofinjustice in the Peace terms, anything which any perfectly impartial Court would not have adjudicated in exactly the same W.'L‘J. PUNISHMENT OF GERMAN PEOPLE. .Referring to criticisms that though individual conditions might be rig'.l:. the cumulative effect was crushing,and that the Treaty, though it might be just, might not be wise. Mr. Lloyl Gseorge emphasised the heinousness of Germany’s crime must be mark.u‘;_ We would not and could not take these risks again. The German people were not sbeiong punished for the crime of their rulers, for the German people had approved of the War. He unhesifatingly challenged anyone to , point; lib a. 1 single clause of the Treaty which did not accord with the-., stern highert demands of justice and fair plav. We were determined that the Treaty should not be a. scrap of paper, ‘

TO PROTECT FRANCE. ' BRITISH-AMERICAN ALLIANCE The guarantees included the disarmament of Germany, and the destruction of arsenals. Th_e British delegates without hesitation proposed that the reduced German army should bevoluntary and of long serpeople‘ untrained,’ and rendering it impossible for Germany tobraise huge 0.1.~.;Z;5. The same applied to the Navy He proposed to introduce a Bill dealing with the Anglo-American guarantees in the event of an" unprovoked attack on France. (Cheers), France had legitimate reason for serious apprehension wheii Britain and America. had gone home, and the gallant men of the Domini-ons (Cheers) who had fought so bravely in France-'.Austl-alians, New Zealanders, fsoiith Africans and Canadians, all of whom had won the deepest affection of the French people-—when these had departed, and France saw_ only the Rhine between her and the foe who had trampled? her ruthlessly and torn her flesh twice within living memory France said: “We would like to know that you Britons and Americans Who M helped to emancipate our" soil are; still behind us against "wanton aggression._»” The Premier invited Parliament 1 to say “Yes.” (Cheers). He did not‘ agree that that would show lack of? faith with the League of Nations. The latter "Wollld be valueless unless itj had the sanction behind it of strong 1 nations prepared to stop aggression at a moment's notice. The "document bound us in the case of wanton provocation -'by Germany. The other guarantee was ‘ l

‘ THE ARMY ‘OF OCCUPATION. France did not wish to keep an army on the Rhine a single day longefTnan Was absolutely necessary, and if Germany showed. goodwill and gave the necessary guarantees, France was quite prepared to reconsider the question of occupation at the proper moment. Britainwas directly interested in the "question -of the cost of the army of occupation, because she «did not wish to impose unnecessary expense upon Germany, Which would be a first charge upon the indemnity? fund. The Government lfadlan understanding with France, that the ‘moment Germany carried out her‘ undertaking with regard to disarmament, the cost of the army of occupation should not exceed 240 million marks. An agrec--ment on this matter was signed by President Wilson, M. Clemenceau’ and himself. It reiiuired fio’ ratification. Lastly there was the guarantee of

THE LEAGUE OF-NATIONS, 3- lgl'93’l; hoPoflll',‘ expefriment _wllich was only rendered possible by the other conditions of the Peace. 11; was due to the world to try the experiment earnestly. The League, unfortunately did not mean that we would‘ilot have War, but it would be justified if it prevented one w.a.r, (Cheers.) He begged that nobody would sneer at the League. (Loud cheers, especially from the Labour benches) He believed the experiment would succeed, and that the League would make crime diflicult and unsuccessful. ~Vl‘Rle‘refore,, fie ‘gllooked hopefully and c.onfiden‘t’ly to the Leegue ‘would make crime difliclllt. and *u.nsucce'ssful. Therefore, he {looked hopefully and confidently «to the League ‘for great things fior humanity. He ex‘pressed the opinion that the immediate admission of ‘Germany to the League would be a mistake. The. date of Germany ’s 5-admittance would depend upon ‘herself. (Cheers.) If Germany created

obstacles and" showed that the same old spirit :animat-ed her, she Would 1101'aecelerate thedate, but she really showed shekhad broken ‘with the past, and that the fires of War had purified ‘ hersoul, and that she realised the policy of the last 150 years had been a. bitter mistake, then she would ‘accelilerate the date. The sooner thatqcame about the better it would be for Germany and the world. Referring the German colonies, the Premier said that these were not distributed among. cronquerors. but would be administered by the Great Pm\'ers Lon behalf of humanity. The mandato«ry' Powers would differ according to the particular territory concerned.‘ For ' example, ‘South-West Africa, running as it did alongside the Cape, was felt to be so much part geographically «of that country that it would be quite impossible to treat it in the same Way as a colony removed two or three thousand‘ miles afrom jthe ‘-centre of the mandatory administration. Doubtlcss, South-West Africa. would become an integral part of the Federation of ‘South Africa. It would be colonised by South Africans. They could not ha.ve done anything else, for they could not set up Customs barriers and different systems of administration. The same applied to New Guinea, but did not apply to Togeland and the Cameroons or German East Africa. It would be found .th:at the condit.ions of the mandates set upfor these terl'it.orieS were the same as applied for British colonies over the whole world. The responsibilities of the British Empire under this mandate were - enormously in C‘.‘(‘.il.SC(l. Something like 800,000 square miles had been added to the already gigantic charge on the Empire ’s shoulders. charge which had been undoubtedly fulfilled in a way which had won the Wonder of the Whole world. Referring to the

LAB'OUR CONFERENCE, Mr Lloyd George said it was a matter of most ~ vital importance for the Worl-d’s ‘future industrial conditions. and when it. was borne in mind that at least three-quarters of the armies that won the great victory were drawn from the working elasses of the various nations, it was felt that they had Won a right to a corner of their own. He was glad it was largely through the initiation of Mr Barnes that this charter was added to the Treaty. He hoped this .mael~.-in.ery would enable the establisllnient‘ of some permanent means of raising the level of labour over .thc whole world, and not handicapping countries ‘where labour was well treated in competition in neutral markets with countries where the conditions of labourwere inferior. 'llll.at. was the great purpose of this charter. BRIT_AIN’S SHARE IN THE VICTORY. ‘The Premier proceeded to emphasise that no country had a greater share in the tremendous victory of the Allies thanfithe British Empire. ‘He pointed out "Chat the Empire raised 7,700,000 50153918 and Sailors——(loud yeiheers)~— and raised war loans totalling 9,500,000,~0000 Sterling. The casualties of. the Empire forces totalled over three million, not including sailors, of whom 15,000 were killed. The navy and‘ the mercantile marine kept the sea, and

without them the war would ‘-have collapsed in six months. During the last two years of the war Britain had not only ‘borne the heaviest burden of the fighting in France, but the Whole burden of the attack on Turkey, which had crumbled to dust. (Cheers) It was la great record, and showed what could be achieved by a. great people united and inspired by a common cause. “Let us rejoice, says the Premier, “like men who are under no delusion that :ou rtroublcs are past, and that the spirit which eznahles us to overcome it will also enable us cheerfully to face the future. Let us not waste our lstfiengithi lptrematurely in fighting eachother. l THE ONLY WAY. l , The Premier most solemnly declared that in -order to prevent. the country sinking under its burdens and Wounds, we must most eifectively use the resources of Britain and the Empire, and make all reasonable men contented.” He urged the-people to support. the Vic.tory Loan. Innorder to reap the fruits of victory, each must gii‘7’e\" such strength, goodwill, and co-operation as he could. The Premier ridiculed the idea that now peace had come all would go right without -efiort. He pointed out that output had diminished, and the cost of production increased. That was exactly the opposite road to the road leading to prosperity, as even the Bolsheviks in Russia had begun to discover. Mr- Lloyd George concluded by appealing for" eo-opera-tfon and the maintenance of that spirit of patriotism which alone could bring us to a real and ‘glorious triumph.