The Washington times., 1921-04-18

Council held on May 8, 1919, Mr..
Lloyd George employed the words
certain islands in giving express
sion to what he understood to be
the territories to be committed to
the charge of Japan: and lastly.
that according to the minutes OF
the meeting of the Supreme Council
of May Z, 1919, no discussion took
place on that day in respect to man
dates and that although there ex-
lists a memorandum appended to the
minutes OF the meeting of May I
which purports to be a codification
of the agreement reached at the
meeting of May with reference to
the North Pacific islands. such
memorandum does not expressly in
clude all the islands in the North
Pacific.
1.-TWO. A view is advanced furth-
er in the note under reply that if
Yap was meant to be included
among the islands assigned under
the mandate to Japan then the de-
cision OF May Z, 1919. should have
been drafted in more specific
language than is the case. In the
opinion of the imperial government.
however, IL is more in accordance
with sound principles of interpre-
tstion to say hat the fact should
have been set down with especial
clearness IL exclusion were meant
as an exception always requires to
be stated definitely. To assert that
the fact OF nonexclusion should
have been specifically mentioned in
decision OF this kind could only
be regarded as an extraordinary
and even an unreasonable conten-
tion. with which no one would like
ly to concur.
HINTS At BAD FAITH.
'It must also be remembered that
II decision in favor OF exclusion
OF the Island of Yap-a question,
OF grave concern to Japan and one
on which the Japanese delegation
invariably maintained a hrm atti-
tude-had really been made, as IT
Is implied by the argument OF the
United States Government, at the
meeting OF May Z, at which Japan
was not represented, IL could not
but have been regarded. as an act
OF entirely bad faith. 1t Is, there
fore, inconceivable to the imperial
government that such a decision
could have been rDched at a meet
ing at which no Japanese delegs-
ton was present
"Since the decision under the con-
siderstien says on the one hand
German Islands and on the other
does not make any exception of
Yap. the Imperial Government re-
gard IL as perfectly clear that the
d..
the Aleutians, with no exception
tory territories allocated to Japan.
Nor are the Imperial Government
alone and unsupported in their m
depreciation of the decision, for
they are In receipt of authentic In
formation that the governments OF
Great Britain and, France. being of
the same opinion as the Japanese
government on the matter, made
statements to that effect in their
replies to the American note in No
vember last.
'If the decision incorporated in
the memorandum appended to the
minutes for May be one which
was really reached at the meeting
OF the Supreme Council held on Nav
6. as represented in the note under
sion will be that, inasmuch as tho
meeting held on the latter date.
that is. May 9. was that of the
heads of delegations of the United
States. Great Britain and France.
the contention of the American gov
ernment Is tantamount to saving
that President Wilson by himself
arrived at an understanding which
differed from that OF all others
present. a conclusion difficult to
understand.
Again. a reference is made to
the use OF words certain islands
by Lloyd George at the meeting
OF the supreme council held on
May 8, 1919. tending to prove the
exclusion OF the Island OF zap.
Granting for the sake of argument
that the words certain islands
occur in the minutes for May 6.
the use OF such a phrase Is per-
fectly natural and easy to under
stand without supposing II to re-
fer to the exclusion OF zap.
There are other islands In the
South Pacinc north of the equator
which did not belong to Germany
and II docs not appear how better
Lloyd George could succinctly de-
scribe the islands to be allotted to
the Japanese mandate in that re-
glon than as certain islands Ger
tain In a word which is FAR from
approba ton to mean all but ONE
a nd had he bad fh. sxrtn.fan of /.