PEACE CONGRESS.

Taranaki Daily News, 31 May 1919, Page 10

PEACE CONGRESS.

NEW ZE&LASD DEI.?'? OION. E'iM'PEAX YERK'JfUiIAI. CLtIAiS. THE CZEOHO-SLOVAKS. (From E. Holey, Official Journalist). [No. XVI.] Paris, March 19. In the crashing downfall of the great Kuropean Powers mid the emancipation of Birwill nations, the emergence of the (w.o-SlovaUs from tyranny is an hisromance. Less than four years ago Czeeho-Slova-kia.ii exiles in the various Allied countries, encouraged by their knowledge of the aims and ideals of the Allies against the Central Powers, inspired the movement in their cradle-land towards the formation of an independent CzechouSlnvok state, nnd the restoration of the smothered but unsubdued nationhood of the people of old Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian, Silesia, and Slovakia. . In a little over two years they had succeeded, with the help of the Allies, in setting up a central Government and a strong political organisation, and also in putting three armies in the field. The story of their emancipation from over 30(1 years of servitude and vicissitudes which almost led to the extermination of the nation, is of universal interest, for it shows that true national sentiment and love of country and freedom cannot be suppressed and must in the end overcome tyranny. The claims of the Czecho-Slovaks were submitted 1o the Council of the Allied and Associated Powers by Dr. Karl Kramartz, Prime Minister of the Czechoslovak Government, whose whole publis life has been devoted to the cause of Bohemian liberty (he was condemned to death early in the war by an Austrian Court, but was subsequently reprieved and released) and by Dr. Benes, Foreign 'Minister of the new Oecho-Slovak Republic. formerly a brilliant pupil of Professor Masaryk, now President of the Republic, and a prominent leader in the movement for' the establishment of the Czecl.o-Slovak National Council. They based their claims on the principles of justice—the principles of the Peace Conference,

All'that the Czeoho-Slovak nation wanted, it was explained in detail, was the right and f.'eedom to control its own destiny. Their principles weTe the •principles of the Allied nations; they had risen against a mediaeval dvnastv barked bv bureaucracy, and brutal militarism. The nation had not hesitated to side with the Allies in the interests of democracy. Tt had plunged into tht great struggle without asking for guarantees or weighing the chances and rewards of success.

The nation's history was recounted with dlsmified simplicity. J!ohcmia, Moravia. and Austrian iSilesia had been one State from the sixth centurr. and Czech independence had lasted "until 1747. when it ceased to have practical significance. Tvra.Tiny an-l misrule had fomented rehellion and rebellion had intensified tyranny. The nation had been three times overwhelmed by superior numbers of the German peoples. After the battle of the White Mountain in the 17th century the Czech people had practically ceased to exist. A flicker of reanimat.ion had been kindled by the French ■Revolution, but it had never reached the intensity of a fire. But throughout the centuries the heat, and guiding passion of nationhood had never cooled, and the four.tainhead of national inspiration was the history of the. nation. After explaining the exposed situation of Czechoslovakia the representatives of the new republic urged the necessity for the ndiustment of frontiers in order to resist Iho flood of German invasion and aggression The first territorial claim was to Bohemia, Moravia and Austrian Silesia, which formed a geographical and ethnological whole, notwithstanding the presence of a German population representing the result of centuries of infiltration and colonisation. But the best argument was on econon ripWc. Bohemia was by far the strongest industrial portion of Austria-Hun-mrv. The majority of the workers were C/ecli. though most of the employers were German. Tt was intended to grant to the German-Bohemians full minority rights. Frontier rectifications were claimed in Prussian .Silesia., in lower Austria, in Slovakia, and the incorporation of the Buttienes of Hungary in order to obtain

tnvy'itnvinl connection "with Ronmania; o 1 oconnection with the Jugo-Slavs. In addition to these and minor territorial claims the Czeclio-Slovak delegates asked for the internationalisation of the T?lho. Danube, and the Vistula, as well ns of the following railways: Prees-burg-Tripsts. Pressburg-Fiume, and Pra^ue-Nurnberg-Strasshurg. All the claims were referred to a special commission for consideration and Tennrt to the council of the Allied Powers, ■whose final decision will be incorporated in the final peace treaty.

NEW ZEALAND DELEGATION. Allied Powers and Conscription: Limitation of German Army. (From Official N.Z. Press Reporter) Paris, March 20. The original proposal of the Supreme Army Council of the Allied and Associated Powers as regards the limitation of the German Army was that the number of effectives in all German States should be fixed at 200,000 men (excluding officers) to be raised by annual recruitment. The grouping of that army was to be limited to 15 infantry divisions and 5 cavalry divisions, with not more than 5 army corps staff and 1 army staff. The period of service was for men to be 12 months after which they were to. be under no further military obligations whatever. The number of officers was to be limited to !),000.

When these and other proposals came before the Council of the Powers it was announced that the British delegates could not see their way to accept such terms without substantial modifications. The maimer in which the original proposals respecting the future strength of the German Army and the system of enlistment were reduced and altered represents a triumph for the British statesmen in the Council of the Peace Conference. The number of German effectives was reduced by fifty per cent, and it was decided to demand the abolition of universal compulsory miKtfcry service in Germany. It may be st riled that at a meeting of the Council at which the Allies" military experts were present it was explained that the German Amy of £OO,OOO men i-,uid be raised fay annual recruitment, which could be either volMjitary or by drawing lots or l»y any e&er Tjifi nirnjiß rwj|pfl fpplK

serve for one year and no longer. This method was challenged oil the ground that under such ft system of recruitment with service restricted to one year, two million men would have been trained in ten years. It was admitted that an annual renewal of personnel would produce soldiers of a sort, but as against that tliere would be no corresponding stall's. In other words the quality of an army depended on the cadres. It was the old principle over again that it would bo better to have an army of sheep commanded by a lion than an army of lions commanded by an ass. The principle was not acceptable to shrewd statesmen on the Council, whose main argument was that Gerinaily possessed great numbers of highly trained officers and noncommissioned officers who for the next twenty years would be ready to come forward, thristing for revenge It was possible that within a score of years Germany could have an army of four million trained men led not by donkeys but by officers with considerable war experience A more dependable system of German disarmament was required. It was made clear that the British point of view was that Germany should not be permitted to maintain a bigger army than Great Britain possessed. This view prevailed in the end, and the original proposals were revised, and provision made (as long since announced) for the limitation of the German military forces to 100,000 men, including officers and establishment of depots (the number of officers not to exceed 4000) grouped in not more than seven divisions of infantry and three divisions of cavalry, with only two army corps headquarters staffs, and provision also made ior the abolition of conscription from all German States, and the abolition of the Great German General Staff and all similar organisations, and the centre suppression of all secret and camouflaged methods of raising and training soldiers. It is a pity that full publicity cannot be given to all the arguments that led to the final adoption of the military terms to be imposed on Germany, for the great Peace Conference has, so far, offered nothing more interesting to a world surfeited with war.

ADD PEACE TREATY GERMAN INTENTIONS. A Danedin clergyman recently wrote from Cologne:— "(.ill, how 1 liate the Germans and their damned hypocritical friendliness. They hate us liiie poison, yet they crawl and lick our 'blessed hoots. They hate England with a bitter and intense hatred. Kepentant Germany? Don't you believe it, and I believe that even now while she is whining she is preparing for a greater and a more deadly war." That this pretty accurately describes the position may be gathered from an interesting article which Mrs. Julian Grande (nee Miss Constance Jiarnicoat) has sent from Berne to the Chriatcburch rress_ This lady, who is a Hew Zeahinder, lias .had exceptional opportunities of getting inside knowledge from Germany, and her information hitherto has been sound and most valuable. Writing at the latter end of February she (says: "There is so much talk at present about the collapse of Germany that her condition is far too often merely taken for granted, and it is assumed outright that she is lying prostrate on the ground, ready to accept whatever the Allies choose to mete out to her. What I want to insist upon is that, although Germany is in one seDse helpless, in another she is nothing of the -kind, and she knows it. I am not merely theorising when I assert that the Allies must not count on a, prostrate fcnd supine Germany. Those who have Wen observing the present temper of the German people see this clearly a!-"udy, and are under no illusions. To-dav I was speaking to a Swiss merchant who had just returned from Gel-many, a man who, but for his language, and appearance, might pass for a hard-headed Scotsman. Germany, he said, may have lost the war from a military point of view, but for this very reason she has won in another way. Slu- has got rid of militarism. Now, it 13 to her interest to accept any terms which the League of Nations may impose upon her forbidding her to have an army or navy in the future.

"The German merchants, manufacturers, and bankers state quite openly that Germany's great army and navy were lit-r weakness ratlier than her strength. If the millions of men who used to be kept in barracks or arsenals had been employed in ordinary peaceful occupations, then Germany, they say, would have conquered the world peacefully. The millions spent every year on the army and navy did not help her overseas tnide or assist her morally or economically anywhere in the world. Now, the Germans argue, we shall have no burden of military service or army and navy budgets: we shall he able to devote our whole time and energy to the development of our country and an commerce. As for paying war indemnities, what do a few millions matter to a nation of 70,600,000? Our land is fertile, our people are well educated, and we will pull through in the long run. Twenty years hence, if we are not actually on the top, we shall at any rate he on a level with the strongest of our enemies. This is a fair summary of what the German people are not only thinking but saying. "As regards the loss of AlsaceLorraine, the German people, while deploring the iron arid potassium mines, and also the vineyards, console themselves with the reflection that should German-speaking Austria join Germany, this would much more than atone for Alsace-Lorraine. Obviously Germany would ibe strengthened by the artMion of some ten million inhabitants, and, what is more, it will be seen that Austria is a kind of land-bridge between Bavaria and Hungary; once she is attached,to Germany, Hungary cannot very well be otherwise than dependent on Germany. Most important of all from the standpoint of the worlcl'in general, however, is the fact that if Austria, does join Germany tills will he t a very long step towards the unification of the Ger-man-speaking peoples. As the Busier Nacliriehten says: 'Thus as tlie result of a war ruthlessly brought auout, Germany will be strengthened both territorially :uid as regards population: she trill be freed from the Russian military power in the East, and lias the prospect of powerful commercial expansion o:i Russian territory.'"