New Britain herald., 1919-06-03

] ment or a change of it's leading per i sons would suffice to release nation from assumed obligations. This en- tails the conclusion that all the ter r1tories of the ancient monarchy and their peoples could be made reSpon- 1 slble for the consequences of the war, 1 which was forced upon them all by 1 their former governments. Thus is 1 Weighing upon us, as upon all the 1 other nationalties esta ablished on the l territory of the former Austro- Hun l garian monarchy. a portion of the l dreadful inheritance left us by the 1 fallen empire the inheritance of war, l the inheritance of exhaustion and the l inheritance of the more cumbersome 1 economic obligations But the new l republic has freed herself from all 1 these imperalistic aspirations which have become fatal to the existence l of the ancient monarchy. She has l rid herself once and forever of all
 the reactionary traditions which had
 turned the former monarchy into i prison for it's people. She is alas, l the unfortunate victim of that hor- l rihle crime of 1914-a crime commit 1 ted by the former government, how 1 ever, and not by the people.
 1 "On the other hand, all the states have in the light of international law l come into existence after the cessation 1 of hostilites
 The Germ Austrian republic in ] it's present shape has never declared l war, never carried on war, and, in 1 relation with the western powers, 1 never had the position of a warning 1 power from an international point of view. And there could be no doubt 1 as to the fact that our republic never was at war with the new national | states. On the contrary in Vienna 1 various commissions appointed by the 1 succeeding states have met to set the I estates left by the empire and to di- 1 vide in mutual accord among them selves all the rights and assets of 1 this estate. Between them and us 1 it is not a question of making peace l but of liquidating the former partner ] ship and settling the future relations 1 under the intervention and guarantee 1 of the powers for which we pray. Nevertheless these succeeding states l meeting face to face in Paris are 1 playing quite d different role in re- 1 gard to their obligations assumed in 1 the past. We expect to eliminate this l contradiction at the peace conference.
 I reserve to myself the opportunity 1 of drawing like conclusions from this l contradiction later on.
 l We are before you as one of the l parts of the vanquished and fallen l empire. We assume our portion of the liabilities growing out of these 1 other relations to the Allied powers l and we are well aware of the fact 1 that our fate is resting in your hands We hope and believe that the con- I IoJ ,ot l to our people nor curtail the right of self determination which the aSSo- 1 ciated powers have already pro- 1 claimed to be the very aim of their
 war waged against the Hapsburg and 1 the Hohenzollern monarchies a right 1 which our people confiding in the 1 principles recognized by the Allied 1 powers, have adopted as a funda- mental basis of their new institution l we trust the worlds common sense will not have in view nor will 1 permit our economic ruin. The de- 1 struction of the economic unit of 1 the monarchy, the separation of our 1 m mountainous country from all it's na- i tional resources has condemned us l these last six months to privations 1 which are by far exceeding the sui 1 ferines endured in war time It was
  1 ganized by Mr. Hoover on resolutions 1 passed by the Allied powers, that we 1 have been saved from downright
 starvation; but n all these times of
 distress our people have in a manner l deserving of admirs ton shown disci- pline patient endurance and good 1 judgme ent. Our new republic did not stain her revolution with blood and ! having faith in the decisions of this 1 conference she even has abstained 1 from any military action against her l neighbors although the latter have
 occupied two-fifths of her territory. l She has proved to be a mainstay of l peaceful and organized social devel 1 opment in Central Europe.
 1 we know we had to receive peace ! from your hands-from the hands of 1 victors but we are firmly resolved ] conscientiouslv to weigh each and l every proposition laid before us and any advice from you to us. We shall | above all, make it point thoroughly | to inform you of the conditions pre- l vailing in our country and to en- 1 enlighten you regarding the primary 1 exigencies of our existence. If you 1 heretofore have had the opportunity l to hear with a few exceptions only 1 the voice of our neighbors we now l invoke your hearing. For you. the i arbiters of a great world, will have
 to decide the fate of our small world ! also and it is only just and right that
 arbiters should hear both parties, 1 We pray for a decision which will l insure for all our national political I and economic existence