Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-05-26
il necessary by liquidation that portion
Of the mines which is in question.
''I hax-a ntp

IN. CLEMENCEAU."
First German Note
The first of Count Won Brockdorff =
| Rantzau's notes. dated Versailles, May
| 13, follows:
'Sir-The German peace delegation
has inferred from the note of your ex =
cellency. dated the 10th instant, that
the Allied and associated governments
have formed the terms of the treaty
with constant thought Of the principles
upon which have at the time, the armi-
stice and the negotiations for peace
were proposed. The German delegation
Will not, of course. cast doubts upon
| this basis: they must. however. reserve
| to themselves the right of pointing out
these conditions, which, according to
their views. are inconsistent with the
Intention of the Allied and associated
governments. Such an inconsistency is
principally obvious with regard to those
conditions of the draft of the treaty
which bear upon the cession of different
parts of the territory of the empire in :
| habited by the German population.
Apart from the restitution of Alsace-
Lorraine to France and from the occu =
patton of Kehl. which points / reserve
10 myself to treat later on. the tempo
rary or permanent surrender of the fol
lowing fractions of German territory is
required from Germany. the Sarre basin.
the districts of Eupcn and Malmedy
as well as Prussian Moresnet. upper
Silesia, German districts of middle ST.
lesia. POsnania. West Prussia and East
Prussia. The provisions made for the
administrativc department (regierungs-
bcrZirk) of Schlcswig also mean in the
end ccssion of parts of German terri
tory.
The Gcrman delegation fully realizes
nat for number of provisions on
changeS in territory contained in the
dratt of the treaty of peace the prin-
| ciple of national self determination may
indeed be assured. as certain groups Of
the population up TO now Under German
dominion Q. e.. Poles. look upon them
serves as non Germans. In the SchlCs-
wig problem. too. reasons of nationality
may be alleged. albeit the German dele
CATION cannot see whence the Allied and
associated governments derive the au-
thority for making the question of the
boundary TO he settled between Germany
and Denmark, an object of the peace
negotiations.
1.-The neutral Danish Government
Knows the present German Government
always to have been ready to come to
an understanding with it without the
new frontier corresponding to the prin-
clple of nationality. In case the Danish
Government should nevertheless prefer
urging its claims by taking the cir
cuitous way o. the peace negotiations,
the German Government is not of a
mind to object to this.
But the willingness of the German
government does not extend to those
territories of the empire which are not
undoubtedly inhabited by population
OF foreign extraction. Above all. it
deems it to be inadmissible that by the
treaty of peace German populations and
territories should be bartered about
from sovereignty to sovereignty as if
they were mere chattels and pawns in
game for the purpose of giving guar
antee for financial or economic claims of
the adversarics of Germany.
This especially holds good of the
Sarre basin. Nobody denies that an un =
alloyed German population is living
mere. In spite of this the draft of the
treaty of peace provides for a transfer
OF sovereignty over this partly Prussiun.
partly Bavarian territory upon France.
which needs must lead up to a complete
coaleScence with regard to the manage
ment OF customs, the coinage. admins
tration, legislation and jurisdiction, or
which, at the very latest will in all
these respects put an utter end to the
contact of the "aQr district with the
rest of the empire. The authorities of
the occupied powers cannot be ignorant
or the fact that the whole population is
resisting with the utmost determina-
tion such a severing from the old home
country. The few persons pretending
to think otherwise. because they either
fawn upon the existing power or hope tc
secure for themselves Illicit gains, do not
count.
1T would be all to no purpose to OBJ
Ject that the occupation is only meant
to last for fifteen years and that at the
expiration of this delay plebiscite is to
decide on the future nationality. for the
return of the territory to Germany has
been made dependent on the German
governments then being able to buy
within short delay all the coal mines
of the territory from the Frencn Gov
ernment against (N) in gold, and if
payment cannot be effected the country
is finally to pass over to France. even
though the population should unani-
mously have voted for Germany.
Terms Impossible
considering the financial and eco
nomical conditions of the treaty it ap-
pears to be impossible that Germany
would within fifteen years have the
requisite quantity of gold at her dis
posal, moreover, even should the gold
| be in the possession of Germany, the
interallied reparation commission. which
then would still be reigning over Ger
many, would hardly permit such use of
the gold to be made. In the history of
modern times, there very probably exists
no instance whatever where one civilized
power has obliged another to surrender
| its nationals to foreign sway as an
equivalent of sum of gold.
''1n the public opinion of the hostile
countries, the cession of the Saar basin
is presented as being just compensation
for the devastation Of mines in northern
! France.
The German delegation acknowledge
| that France must be compensated for
these damages. They also admit that
compensation in money alone would not
meet the present impaired economic po-
sition of France. The claim to com
! pensation in kind being thus acknowl-
edged as justified. such compensation
| in kind should aud can be effected in
another way than by submitting ter
ritory to foreign rule which. not =
withstanding the most humane inten
tions of those in power, always re-
mains odious. -....
The German delegation is prepared
| Immediately to enter into discussions
with. the Allied and associated govern
ments on the question how the .bene-
ficiary in the output of coal in the
provinces formerly occupied by Ger
many may be compensated as has been
promised by Germany till the devas
tated mines are repaired In this re-
Spect they propose that in lieu of the
primitive and disDrOpOrtionate form of
restitution through surrendering the