The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-04-07

Specifically, the comm munications deal with the awnrd to Japan by
 the supreme council at Paris on May :, 1919, of a mandate over the
 island of Yap, an important cable center in the Pacific ocean. nnd MT. Hughes says the American govern nent trusts that this action,
 which it must nssume. was taken
 under misapprehension. will be recOnsidered.v
 POSITION UNCHANGED
 The notes are the first impor-
 tant diplomatic com munication penned by the new Secretary of
 State. and they make it plain thnt
 the change of administration in
 Washington had resulted in no
 modification of the previous posi-
 tion of the United States that as
 one of the principal contributors
 to the common victory over Ger many it must insist upon the cx-
 ercise of it's full rights in the dis-
 position of the former German poS-
 sessions.
 Only one of the communica tions-- that to Great Brtain--was made pub lie. Those to France and Italy are understood to be substantially the same, but the state department. m giv- ing out the note to the London foreign office tonight explafned that the note to Japan contained additional para graphs referring to previous corre- spondence between the two govern ments.' It added that the correspond ence with Tokio is not made public at this time" but no official explanation was forthcoming.
 The note to Japan IS in reply to one on the subject of Yap received from that country on last March ,. This communication and those to the other three allied powers were supplemental to previous notes on the subject from the United States ;3 those govern ments, and also to the council of the League of Nations.
 BEGUN BY COLBY
 The series were begun by Secretary Colby lasct November after the inter- national communications conference had convened here to dispose finally or the former German cables seized by the allies at the outbreak of the war.
 Asserting that there could be no valid or effective disposition of the overseas possessions of Germany, now under consideration, without the assent of the United States Secretary Hughes points out that the treaty of Versailles does not ''purport to secure to Japan or to any other nation any right in the overseas possessions of Germany save as an equal right therein should be secured to the United States.
 '.On the contrary he said. Ar
 ticie 110 of the treaty of Versailles
 provides 'Gcrmany renounces in
 favor of the principal allied nnd ns-
 socinted powers nll her rights and
 titles over her oversens possess
 ma xztflv ,ok h.n
 thnt one of the principal allied and
 associated powers, in whose favof
 Germany renounces her rights nnd
 titles Is the United States. Thus
 not only could the position of the government of Japan derive no
 strength from the treaty of Yer
 sailler, or from my discussions pre-
 liminary thereto. but the terms of
 that trenty confirm the position of
 the government of the United
 States.-
 WILSON RESERVATIONS
 Referring to contentious previously raised that the supreme council at Paris, during the drafting of the treaty of Versailles. agreed to a mandate over Yap for Japan, MT Hughes calls to at tention that President Wilson had al- ready made in the previous meetings of the supreme council on three sep- ardte OCCASIONS reservations regarding the Pacific island.
 The Secretary then quotes from letter from President Wilson to the state department on last March 8, In which he declares that he had taken the position that the Island of Yap should be internationalized for cable purposes MT. Wilson goes on to say that he never abandoned or modified this position and did not agree on May ', 1919. or at any other time. that the island should be included in the assignment of mandates to Japan.
 Mir. Hughes quotes the former Pres ident further:
 "As a matter of fact, all agreements arrived at regarding the assignment If mandates were conditional upon a subsequent agreement being reached IS to the specific terms of the man. dates and further upon their acceptance by each of the principal allied and as- sociated powers"
 3hns never vested either the su- preme council or the League of Nations with any authority to bind the United Stntex or to act In ita hehalf,' the Secretary of State snys. "this government must insist that has not lost it's right or interest ns 1t existed prior to any action of the supreme council or the Lcague of Nations and cannot recOgni.e the aIlocation of the island OF ths validity of the mandate to Japax.s