The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1923-01-18
BERLIN'S Protest
FILED within HUGHES
Declares Violence win Not Be
Met by Violence in Repara-
tons Crisis.
TO ACT WITHIN TREATY
Germany Says France Violates Peace
Pact in ThreefoId Manner-Action
Called lllegal-DefauIt Denied
by Germany.

Washington.-Dr. Otto Wiedfeldt,
the German ambassador, called at the
State Department and left there a
formal protest against occupation of
the Ruhr by France.
This is the text Of the protest:
The French ambassador and imme-
diately afterward the Belgian charge
d'Affaires in Berlin have this after
noon informed the German minister
for foreign affairs in writing and
orally that France and Belgium, be-
cause of the defaults declared by the
Preparations Commission as commit
ted by Germany in execution Of the
deliveries Of wood and coal, have de-
cided Immediately to send into the
Ruhr control missions, composed of
engineers and accompanied by the
troops necessary to control the man
agement of the coal syndicate, to
guarantee the strict execution Of the
program of the Reparations Commits
sion and to enforce the payment Of
reparations. The control missions
will be placed under General De-
goutte, who will have full dictatorial
powers. Any local disturbances will
be punished with the most severe CO.
ercive measures and penalties
The German minister for foreign
affairs has lodged a protest with the
two foreign representatives against
the action contemplated because this
action represents a breach Of the
treaties and Of international law.
Owing to the declarations made by
France and Belgium there is no long
er any doubt that tomorrow at the
latest a Franco-Belgian army will &C.
cupy Essen and parts of the Ruhr ter
ritory. This happens four years after
the signing of the peace treaty and
is directed against a defenseless and
peaceful nation.
The reason given for the procedure
is that Germany is in default in her
deliveries of wood and coal in 1922.
The default in the case OF coal rep
resents a deficit amounting to less
than per cent Of the deliveries Of
goal to the entente powers since the
signing of the armistice. Of the de-
liveries of wood to Trance for 1922
only 10000 cubic meters saWn wood
and $4,000 telegraph poles are miss
ing. France and Belgium justify
their action by asserting that Ger
many is in voluntary default and that
this voluntary default justiies one
sided coervice measures directed
against Germany on the part of these
two powers.
The existence of such a default on
the part Of Germany is not only de-
MED by Germany alone but, entirely
apart from that, tho Franco-BeIgian
action represents a breach of the
Treaty of Versailles in a three-fold
manner:
1. Germany's defaults in her de-
liveries of wood and coal would, &C.
cording to the note Of the Preparations
Commission of March q, 1922, al
ways only justify demands for subse-
quent pavements.
2. The Treaty Of Versailles does
not admit any territorial sanctions.
8. The measures allowed y the
Treaty of Versailles IA. lst Germany
can only be applied by the allied
powers as whole and not by single
powers of their own accord.
The German government herewith
enters a protest against the oppres-
sion applied toward Germany in con-
tradiction with the treaty and inter-
national law. The German govern
ment does not intend to meet VIC
lence with violence nor to reply to
the breach of the treaty with a with
drawal from the treaty. However, as
long as the state of affairs contrary
to the treaty exists Germany is not
in a position to make actual repara-
tons to those powers who have
brought about this state of affairs.