Evening star., 1923-01-21
MEMEL ONLY ONE
Of DANGER SPOTS
Storm Clouds Are Blowing Up
From Eastern and South
eastern Europe.
BY wARRE b. WELLS.

By Cable to The Star and New York Tribune.
Copy right. 1928.
LONDON, January 20.-With the at
tention of western Europe concen-
trated upon the Ruhr. the Lithuanian
uprising In the Baltic port of Memel
passed with comparatively little no.
tice. but this was only one of a series
of disauieting incidents along the
line from the Baltic to the Black sea
indicative OF the storm clouds blow
ing up from eastern and southeastern
Europe.
Memel is the port Of a strip Of ter.
ritory of the same name between East
Prussia and Lithuania the govern
ment of which recently was recog-
nized by the allies and ceded by the
Germans to the allies under the peace
treaty. First under the juri sdiction
of the supreme council and later under
that of the amba ssadors conference.
the status of the territory has re-
manned undecided up to the present
Meantime it has been administered by
a German civil directorate under the
supervision of a French resident.
backed by a couple Of hundred French
troops.
Clash With French.
The natives of the district are Lithu-
anian. with the exception Of the town
itself. which Is almost exclusively
German This week bands which the
Lithuanian government describes as
irregulars, but which were stated to
be regular troops wearing uniforms
under mufti, swooped down on the
town and there was a clash with the
French. in which the latter suffered.
Afterward a truce was arranged and
the ambassadors' conference, sitting
at Paris, has decided now to create a
provisional government under allied
authority to restore order. after which
a final decision regarding the future
of the territory will be reached
Meanwhile British and French naval
detachments have been rushed to the
scene.
1t is suspected in Paris that the in
with the Russian soviet government
in order to open up communication
with Germany. Color Is given to this
suggestion by reports that Lithuanian
bands also have penetrated the
neutral zone separating Lithuania
Russian troops are massing on the
Rumanian frontiers. The Memel ad-
venture has excited the greatest
alarm in Poland, where 1t is regarded
as the forerunner of a Russian move.
The Polish mark this week fell to
the record figure of 100000 to a
pound sterling.
The other end of the tangled skein
of intrigue linking up the Baltic and
the Black sea may be sought at
Lausanne. where the allies are draft
ing a treaty for presentation to the
Turks
AS result Of eight weeks work
In the Swiss town, the following po-
sition was reached: From the ten
subcommissions created by the three
main commissions agreement can be
reported only In regard to three
those dealing with the protection of
exchange OF populations
and transport.
The conditions in the remaining
seven subcommissions range from
partial disagreement to complete
deadlock. and 1t is estimated accord
ingly that nine-tenths of the allied
draft Of the treaty will consist Of
terms already declared to be un-
acceptable by the Turks.
There is still chance that some
sort OF an agreement may be reached.
but at the best it will not be q. stable
one, and the possibility that the Rus
slams and the Bulgarians, who Jared
even worse in the Lausanne dis
cussions than the Turks, may back
up the latter in q coup de main to-
ward Constantinople, cannot be dis
regarded.
Alleges fWrD01Es
One OF the Balkan governments
claims to have circumstantial evil
dence that Sofia and Budapest, as
well as the soviet government, are
demonstrating on the frontiers OF
the little entente" powers In order
to mobilize their forces in this event.
T, The grayest concern Is expressed
In Balkan diplomatic circles over the
reported agreement between soviet
Russia and the so-called peasant
of Bulgaria, as well as
over the activities of the Hungarian
troops. This week representatives of
Serbia and .Czechoslovakia, called at
the foreign once here, as well as at
the Quai d'Orsay, in order to draw
the attention of the British govern
ment to the gravity Of the situation
created on the frontiers OF the little
entente" by Hungarian propaganda
ana military preparations and ths
= s +. = 4 .aH- f. &. II