Evening star., 1920-02-27

| Reply made by BritisllSand French
prime ministers on January %, deny
ing any intention to proceed with a
| settlement without consulting this
government.
| President Wilson's note of Febru-
AIRY 10. suggesting he might have to
| Withdraw the German peace treaty
and the separate pact with France
iron the Senate if the revised pro-
poSals were adhered to.
! Reply of Great Britain and France.
dated February Il. protesting any
action of President Wilson to wreck
the whole machinery of dealing with
! international disputes.
! President Wilson's second note and
| the last OF the series to be made pub
/ lie. in which he maintains his origi-
! nal position. reply to this note
| has been forwarded by Great Britain
and France, but has not yet reached
" ashington.
| In his last note to the European
i powers the President said he had no
choice but to maintain the position
, he has all along taken as regards the
f; Adriatic settlement, and that he be
1ievcS it to be the central principle
fought for in the war that no gov
crnment or group of governments has
the right to dispose of the territory
or to determine the political aIlegi-
ance of any free people
Consider Withdrawal of Treaty.
The Original position of the Presi-
dent. as defined in his note to Great
Britain and France under date of Feb
ruary 10, was that if it does not ap-
pear feasible to secure the acceptance
of the just and generous concessions
offered by the British, French and
American governments to Italy in the
joint memorandum Of those powers
OF December ., 1919, the
President desires to say that he must
take under serious consideration the
withdrawal of the treaty with Ger
many and the agreement between the
United States and France of June rs,
1918, which are now before the
Senate"
Replying to this the premiers stated
| that the governments of France and
Great Britain view with consterna-
| tion the threat of the United States
government to withdraw from the
comfy of nations because it does not
agree with the precise terms of the
Adriatic settlement" and they cx-
pressed the hope that this govern
ment would not wreck the whole
machinery for dealing with interna-
tional disputes by Withdrawing from
, is not accepted in this particular
case.
Provisions of Mem ornndum.
| ber 3 subscribed to by France, Great
Britain and the United States, and
which it was supposed here settled
| the Adriatic question, provided in
substance the following:
| lstria was TO have a frontier which,
while widely overstepping" the rec
ognized ethical line between Italy and
Jugoslavia, would have given to Italy
more than 800. 900 Jugoslavs and further
extended eastward to give Italy ter
ritory in the region OF Albona, also in
cluding Jugoslavs A buffer state be-
and Serb-Croat-Slovene kingdom, con-
tanning some 100000 Jugoslavs, as
against 10000 Italians, was to be placed
under the league OF nations. The So
called Asslino region was to be perma-
nently demilitarized. There was to be
a free state OF Fiume under control and
future determination by the league. with
full autonomy for the city of Fiume
The city of lara was to have complete
sovereignty under the league and COM
plete control of its own affairs. The
islands of Pelagosa group. Lissa and the
small islands west of it, Lussin and
Cnie, were to pass to Italy on demili-
| tarized status, with local autonomy for
the Slavs in Lissa. Italy was to have
mandate over the independent state Of
Albania under the league. Albanian
frontiers north and east were to be
those fixed by the London conference Of
1913. but the south was left for nego-
! tiation. Greece was to have certain
territory, the lines for some Of which
were to be left for negotiation. The
necessary to defense and economic de-
velopment were granted to Italy in full
sovereignty.
Afforded Full Satisfa ction.
These provisions were described in
the memorandum as affording to
Italy full satisfaction of her his
| toric national aspirations uniting
the italian race and as giving her
| absolute strategic control of the Ad-
riatic." The conferees declared they
had carried their concern for Italian
security to the point Of neutralizing
the Dalma ton Islands and adjacent
waters from the northern border of
the Reguso region to Fiume" Italy,
however. had asked for control of the
diplomatic relations of Zsra; dissocia-
| tion of the city of Fiume from the
free state of F'iume: connection of the
and annexation to Italy of the Island
of Lagosta. This plan the conferees
| characterized counter to every
consideration of geography. economies
and territorial convenience" Ex-
planning their reasons for arriving at
the previous decision. they declared:
| Economic consideration being equal
ly excluded. there remains nothing but
Il desire for further territory. The
territories coveted are admittedly in
habited by the JugOslavs. They con-
tain practically no Italian elements" /"
On that point the memorandum in
cluded a communication from Presi-
dent Wilson to Premier Tittoni, un-
der date of November -. which, ex-
| planning the American view. declared: ::
1.-The broad principle remains that it
! is neither just nor eXpedient to annex
! as the spoils OF war territories in
| habited by an alien race. anxious and
| capable to maintain separate ma
! tional state or irridentism exactly
! analogous in kind to that which JUS
| tilted the demand of Italia irridentia
=; for union with the Italian state"
The new agreement between Great
Britain, France and Italy, dated Janu-
ary II. 1920. which President Wilson
construed as having been arrived at
without participation of the United
States. after the agreement Of De-
1cember was supposed to have set