The Wilson times. [volume] (Wilson, N.C.) 1896-19??, 1919-02-04
WHAT THE
NATIONS WANT
France Wants the Rhine a
Natural Boundary to Keep
OFF Invasion
AND 10 BILLION DOLLARS
AND 10 BILLION DOLLARS

Paris, Feb, 3.-The delegates Q
the five great powers are now in
position to compare clearly thei
own aspirations and those Of al
their allied friends and to Sc tn
differences that must be reconciled
The maximum of hopes, often over
tapping, has been told freely and 4
remains for the peace conference Il
adjust them into a co-ordinatet
whole. The desires of the severa
countries as presented may be com
pressed thus:
France: France wants, first o.
all, Alsace4Lorraine unconditional
ly and the right to discuss and ulti
mately to fix the French frontiers
in their relation to the Rhine, which
may require the creation Of buffer
states. One of these would be the
Palatinate and another Rheinish
Prussia. France desires also to an.
mex the basin Of the Sarre river.
which might be called q re-annexa'
tion.
France will insist that so far as
the left bank of the Rhine further
to the north is concerned, the con-
ference should forbid military
works Of any kind-barracks,
bridgeheads, forts and fortresses-
in that zone. The feeling is that
the people inhatiting that zone
should be free to decide for them
selves whether they wish to join
France. form an independent STATE.
or return to Germany.
The French bill for reparation IS
not yet complete, but 1t has been an
nounced in the Chamber Of Depu-
ties that 1t will be about 6e,oeo,-
000, 1000 francs.
The French government does not
ask for a protectorate in Syria in
the ordinary sense because 1t con-
siders that the population there is
too advanced to make a protectorate
necessary, but France, on account Of
her traditional interests in that
country, feels that she should be
called upon to exercise some sort Of
guardianship or guidance until Syr-
ia should be fully able to govern
herself.
GREAT BRITAIN: Great Brit
aims delegation believes that a So
ciety of nations is desirable and OBJ
tainable and that it must be estab-
lished by the present peace confer
ence. She advances no continental
purposes other than those of a per-
manent and just peace under tho
principle of self-determination and
that there shall be international
freedom of transit by railroads and
which is Great Britain's
general definition of freedom Of
commerce in times of peace.
Great Britain will take mandato-
~ power over the German islands
south of the equator for Australia
and over German Southwest Africa
Tor the Union of South Africa. She
will also have the mandate parts Of
Arabia, and she has particular
claims in this respect over Mesopo
tamia.
Great Britain will enter a poo
with the other Allies in the matter Of
especially reparation
Tor air raid damages and shipping
losses.
ITALY: Italy asks for the Tren-I
.ino as far as the Brenner Pass, in-l
the whole of the Southern
Tyrol: Trieste, Istria, Fiume, Zara-l
Scbenico, thelarger part Of the Dali
natian Islands, Alvona and its hin-l
protecorate over Albania;
possession of the islands in theI
Aegean which were taken from Tur-I
zey during the Tripolitan war and
tho province Of Adalia II France and
England should take territory in
Asia Minor.
The Italian contention is that the
)almatian Islands and such parts
II the Dalmatian coast as are not |
assigned to Italy shall be neutraliz-
ID. Should France and England
'xtend their colonial possessions in |
Africa, Italy desires to enlarge her
possessions In Eritrea and Tripoli.
RUMANIA: Territorial conten-
ions in the Balkans are complicat-
ID and present difficult problems.
2umania desires to retain possess
Continued on last pags)