Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-03-08
WILSON INSISTS
THAT THE F|UME
ROW Be settled
] ON JUST BASIS
Text of the Presidents Lat
est Note to Allied Pre-
nlierS Regarding Adriati3
Dispute Is Made Public,
CANNOT CONSENT TO
SLICING UP ALBANIA
Expresses the Hope That
the Matter viii Be DeCid-
ed in a Manner Thorough
ly Acceptable to the u, S.,


taY MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED wiREl
Washington, March (by the
Associated Press) President Will
son accepts with reservations the
proposal of the British and French
premiers that Italy and Jugo-Slavia
undertake a settlement of the Adri-
attic question.
He says if Italy and Jugo-Slavia
prefer to abandon the so-called
buffer state containing an over
whelming majority of Jugo-Slavs
and desire to limit the proposed
free state to the corpus separatum
of Fiume. placing the sovereignty
of the league of nations without
either Italy or Jugo-Slav control,
the United States is willing to leave
the determination of the common
frontier to Italy and Jugo-Slavia.
The president says he cannot
possibly join" in the premiers'
suggestion that the memorandum
settlement of December be with
drawn; declares that albanian
questions should not be included in
the proposed joint discussion" and
reiterates that the United States
cannot approve of the execution of
the terms of the treaty of London.
Finally he expresses "the earnest
hope that the allied governments
will not find it necessary to decide
on a course which the American
government in accordance with its
reiterated statement will be unable
to follow"
The presidents note to the pre-
miers was dispatched Thursday and
is now being considered by the
allied supreme council at London,
Meantime, direct negotiations be-
tween Jugo- -Slayia and Italy are
proceeding.
Mr.. Wilson begins his communi-
cation by noting with satisfaction"
the ''unaltered desire of the pre-
miers to reach IAN equitable solu-
ton in conformity alike with the
principles Of the peace conference
and of the legitimate though con-
fhcting aspirations of the Italian
and Jugo-Slav peoples"
Refusing to agree to with
tirawal of the British French Amer
ican memorandum of December 8 as
a preliminary to the Italian-Jugo-
Slav discussions, the president says
the memorandum represents de-
liberate and diSinterested judgment
after months of earnest considera-
tion" and that it constitutes more
than a mere exchange of views; it
was a statement of principle and a
recapitulation of the chief points
upon which agreement had been
reached"
Reiterating that he would
"gladly approve" a mutual agree
ment between Italy and Jugo-
Slavia reached without prejudice
to the interests of any third ma
ton, the president declares he can
not possibly approve any plan
which assigns to Jugo-Slavfa in the
northern districts of Albania ter
ritorial compensation for what she
is deprived of elsewhere"
Regarding the character and
applicability of the treaty of Lon
don the president is led to speak
with less reserve on account of the
frank observations of the French
and British prime ministers. He
IS unable to find in the 'exigencies
of military strategy sufficient war
rant for exercising secrecy with a
government which was intimately
associated with the signatories of
the treaty of London in the gi-
Eantic task of defending human
freedom and which was being call
cd upon for unlimited assistance
and for untold treasure. The defi-
rite and we'll accepted policy of
the American government through
out it's participation in the deltber-
ptions of the peace conference was
that it did not consider itself bound
py secret treaties of which it had
previously not known the exist
ence Where the provisions of such
treaties were just and reasonable
the United States was willing to re-
spect them. But the French and
British prime ministers will, of
course, not expect the government
of the United States to respect the
terms of the treaty of London ex-
cept insofar as that government
may be convinced that those terms
ere intrinsically just and are con-
sistent with the maintenance of
peace and settled order in south
eastern Europe.
THE absence of an American
representative with plenary power
is to be regretted and may have
been a source of inconvenience but
the president can recall several in
stances where decisions In the SUI
Irene council were delayed while
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