THE MANDATES.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 April 1921, Page 5

THE MANDATES.

AMERICA’S NEW PROTESTS. RIGHTS WON IN THE WAR. CLAIM TO SHARE THE SPOILS. By Telegraph.~Press Assn. —Copyright. Received April 7, 7.55 p.m. Washington, April ff. The State Department has published the mandate Note, which declares that the fact that the United States has not ratified the Versailles Treaty does not detract from the rights the United States has already acquired through the war. The Note adds: “It will not be questioned that the right to dispose of the overseas possessions of Germany was acquired only through the victories 6* the Allied and Associated Powers, and it is believed there is no disposition on the part of the Allies to deny the United States’ participation in those victories.” The Note concludes: “It is manifest that the League 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 in December, 1920, cannot be re. garded as having efficacy in respect to the United States.” The Note was sent specifically as a reply to the latest British Mesopotamian Note, but copies were also forwarded to other Powers, including France, Japan, and Italy. CHALLENGE TO THE ALLIES. VIEW ON PACIFIC MANDATES. Received April 7, 10.5 p.m. Washington, April 6. Mr. Hughes’ Note 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 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 ques'ions all mandates, it is not believed the Harding Administration desires to share in the British Dominions’ mandates over South Pacific territories. The Republican sentiment generally favors Australian, New Zealand, and South African suzerainty in the territories-over which mandates have already been granted.—Aus. -N.Z. Cable Assn.