PEACE TREATY

Taranaki Daily News, 18 February 1920, Page 5

PEACE TREATY

DISCUSSION IN AMERICA.

OPPOSITION TO THE LEAGUE. B,T Telegraph.—Prtsr Asm.—Copyright, Received Feb. 17, 5.5 p.m. Washington, Feb. 10. The Senate has resumed consideration of Peace Treaty matters. Senator H. C. Lodge (Leader of the Republican*) moved the adoption of a modification of the League of Nations covenant providing for the withdrawal of the United States from the membership of the League. Senator McCormick pointed out that Europe was asking for changes in the Treaty, and there were good reasons why the United. States ought not to ratify the Trea'jty.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Ajsn. EUROPEAN PROBLEMS. PRESIDENT WILSON'S NOTE. Received Feb. 17, 5.5 p.m. Washington, Feb. 16. President Wilson's Note to the Allies on the Adriatic question is reported to contain a suggestion of n refusal of American aid in foodstuffs for Europe if the Allies are obdurate.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. Washington,. Feb. 16. President Wilson, in a Note to the Allies, says that unless the Fiume settlement is made with American participation the United States will witbdraw from any further negotiations and refuse to participate in policing the Adri-fttic—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ALLIED DECISIONS ATTACKED. THREAT OF WITHDRAWAL

Received Feb. 17, 11.35 p.m. London, Feb. 17. The dramatic decisions by the Allied Conference at London last week conjerning the fate of the ex-Kaisef and war .eriminals, and the fate of Constantinople, followed by President Wilson's bombshell, which threatens to destroy the proposed Jugo-Slav settlement, have stirred the world deeply. They are regarded in some quarters as indicating that revisions of the Treaty of Versailles may eventually be neceiaary. President Wilson's Note is described by his intimates at Washington as indicative of the recovery of the President's vigor and determination actively to intervene in affairs. It- is understood President Wilson's Note is a long document of eight typewritten pages, addressed to the AngloGovernments, but not to the Italian Government. President Wilson examines the differences between the memorandum of December 9th, to which he agreed, and the Paris compromise of January 20th. Btft declares that if the compromise is adhered to, the. United States might be obliged to withdraw from the Treaty of Versailles. The mfture of the reply to President Wilson's memorandum is not disclosed, >. but it is known to be uncompromising, emjlhasing the complete agreement between Britain, France and Italy, not , rn-ely on the subject of the Adriatic, but on all questions before the Confer- . ence.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

Paris, Feb. 16. Mr. Lloyd George and M. Millerand promptly rejected President Wilson's objections to the Adriatic settlement.— Aus.-N,Z. Cable Asm.

WITH TURKEY,

PBOBLEM BEFORE THE COUNCIL, Baoelved Feb- 18, 12.35 a.m. London, Feb. 17. The Supreme Council at Downing St. -'•dfl.y discussed the question of the Turkish peace, 1n connection with which M. Venezelos (Premier of Greece) attended. He stated the case for Greece, and also discussed the draft of the reply to President Wilson's Note in reference to the Adriatic question. The draft has not yet been completed and the forecasts published will probably be found inaccurate. It is understood President Wilson's letter was not a gratuitous intervention, but was in the nature of a reply to B Note from the Conference outlining their provisional decisions and their reasons for them.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ' London, Feb. 10. The Times, dealing with the recent decisions of the Supreme Council, says the decision to allow the Sultan and the Turkish administration to retain Constantinople reverses the declared policy of the British Government. The Allies will exercise naval and military control over the Dardanelles, but it is uncertain whether they will control the Bosphorus. It is also contemplated that the Turks will retain much of their territory in Asia Minor, but not Syria or Mesopotamia, while the Armenian Republic gains two additional vilayets. The latest development of the Adriatic question it that Mr. Lloyd George and M. Millerand personally urged M. Trifcitch to accept the Franco-British proposals, therefore the arrival of President Wilson's Note stating that America adhere!) to the December Note caused perturbation in the Council. The Times, in a leader, says the Allies' decision regarding war criminals may be fraught with, inconceivable consequences. It is not yet the time to assess the responsibility for the decision regarding Turkey, which even more strikingly reveals the change in Allied opinion and requires the most careful investigation. It is moat significant, in view of President Wilson's return to active control of American affairs, that his Adriatic Note is substantially right. The Allies must exercise the most mature and conciliatory wisdom in their reply.