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laid especial stress on the case of the Kutzo-Valachian population of the Pindus Mountains, Eastern Epirus, which was included in the Greek State in 1912. He stated that this Christian population was demanding, through its leaders and delegates, that their province be included in Albania, inasmuch as Greece was trampling on their rights as a minority.

On Feb. 15, 1919, the Albanian delegation in Paris presented to the Peace Conference a detailed memorandum on the case of Albania. The memorandum asked the Peace Conference to acknowledge the rights of Albania, which had been sacrificed by the Congress of Berlin in 1878, and by the London Conference in 1913. It also recalled that the Albanians had revolted, at the beginning of the war, against a Government which was under the control of the Central Powers, and that they had permitted the retiring Serbian Army to reach the Adriatic Sea in 1915.

The new Government claims all the territories given to Montenegro, Serbia, and Greece by the London Conference of 1913, inasmuch as most of the people inhabiting those territories are Albanians. Reparation is demanded for the damage willfully done in Southern Albania when the latter province was devastated by irregular Greek bands and regular Greek troops, and for the damage wrought to the country by the armies of the Central Powers.

On Feb. 24 the Albanian delegation was admitted to the Peace Conference and argued orally the case of Albania. The territorial claims were referred to the Committee on Greek Claims, and the

Albanian delegates were heard again before that committee. A correspondent of a New York paper cabled from Paris under date of Feb. 24 that "another subject touched upon by the Supreme Interallied Council was the claim of Albania to the extension of its territory by the annexation of portions of Greece and Serbia." There is no question of annexation; the Albanian delegation merely demands the restitution of Albanian territories which were taken away under the old system of diplomacy.

At the hearing before the commission dealing with Greek questions on Feb. 27 a heated controversy arose regarding the final settlement of the question of Southern Albania, which Greece claims as being inhabited by a Greek majority, and regarding the Northeastern Albanian provinces. On March 7 the Albanian delegation sent a note to Premier Clemenceau, as President of the Conference, proposing that in the event that its claims were not admitted by the Supreme Council a mandate be given to the United States to occupy and administer for one year the territories claimed by the Albanians. These claims, as set forth by the delegation, include Tchameria to the south as well as the Albanian territories annexed to Montenegro and Serbia.

Should the Conference accept this proposal, the Albanian delegation stated, the Albanians were willing that the mandate should apply also to Northern Epirus, claimed by both Albania and Greece, under such conditions that the people would be able to manifest their aspirations without restraint.

THE

New Territorial Problems in Asia

Armenia and an American Mandate

HE British Armenian Committee met on Feb. 27 in the House of Commons, and among the matters discussed was President Wilson's utterance in his Boston speech concerning Armenia. This utterance, couched in the form of a question, was as follows:

Have you thought of the sufferings of Armenia? You poured out your money to help succor the Armenians after they suffered. Now set your strength so that they shall never suffer again.

A resolution was unanimously adopted by the committee urging the people of the United States, in accordance with the

President's appeal, to accept the mandate for the administration of Armenia under the League of Nations.

Miran Sevasly, Chairman of the Armenian National Council of America, was in Washington March 5 conferring with officials regarding the question of the United States becoming the mandatary for Armenia under the proposed League of Nations. Mr. Sevasly said the people of Armenia, as well as Armenians in America and Europe, desired that the United States act as mandatary for their country, and that, while they would have to accept the will of the majority nations, they did not wish to have a European nation as mentor.

The general attitude of Americans on this proposition was summed up by Oscar Straus, former American Minister to Turkey, in these words:

The United States must never take a mandate for any of these new or small States in Europe or Asia Minor. It would involve us in endless trouble.

M. PICHON'S STATEMENT

France is in favor of an American mandate for Armenia, being desirous of having this nation's capital and influence at work on that side of the ocean. For the sake of being concrete, an interviewer asked M. Pichon, the French Foreign Minister, what the American mandate for Armenia would probably cover geographically, because as yet there was no independent Armenia marked out on the map by the Peace Conference; also, what would America's task consist of, and how long would it last. M. Pichon replied:

It would last for centuries. It would be a permanent trust or undertaking, because of the nature of the population. There is no large section of territory in what is now Turkey in which the Armenian inhabitants are in the majority. Remember always the fact that the balance of population against the Armenians themselves in their own territory is due largely to massacres. Three hundred thousand of them were massacred under the rule of Abdul Hamid. A million more were massacred during the war. But if the Turks outnumber them now even as much as two to one, the Armenians own at least five-sixths of the property. The latter are th The Turks are shiftless is a simplicity

ro rs.

about the Turks' bookkeeping methods which accounts in large part for their numerical superiority of population. When the debts of a Turkish community become too heavy they kill their Armenian creditors to wipe out the account.

It is to put an end to such proceedings as that, as well as to develop Armenia politically, socially, and economically, that mandatory supervision by the United States or some other civilized power is absolutely necessary.

The foregoing proposal of France indicates a change of mind since January, when, according to an Associated Press dispatch, she was planning a French guardianship over Armenia, Syria, and Lebanon, in conformity with treaties signed with Great Britain and Russia in 1915. Palestine, under this plan, with its complexity of nationalities and religions, would be placed under international protection. England would be responsible for the Arabian peninsula, with the exception of the Kingdom of Hedjaz, which would be free.

The population of the Island of San Lazzaro, near Venice, curiously enough, is deeply interested in the decision to be made regarding Armenia. For more than two centuries this island has been an Armenian oasis transplanted to the Venetian lagoons. It is the seat of the religious head of Catholic Armenia, representing the Mekhitarists, which has branches throughout the world.

THE ARAB CLAIMS

The case which the Emir Feisal, in the name of the King of the Hedjaz, put before the Conference on Feb. 6, is that of the right of the widely scattered Arab people to national recognition and national unity. The Arab argument is that the whole of the vast block of territory south of the line drawn eastward from Alexandretta to the Persian frontier, and inclosed on the east, south, and west by Persia, the Persian Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean, is inhabited by Arabs; that is, by people of a common Semitic stock, speaking Arabic and cherishing the faith of Islam. In Western Syria there are several ancient but small Christian communities. In Palestine there are the Jews, and Jewish and Christian traders are found in most of the important

towns. Yet the proportion of non-Arabic speaking inhabitants is placed at less than one per cent. of the whole.

In further justification of their claims, the Arabs point to their wonderful history, their centuries of persistent struggle to avoid absorption by the Turks, and their services to the allied cause in the present war.

Nevertheless, there are grave obstacles in the way of the Arab demand. Their main prayer is not to be divided into spheres of influence. But Greater Araby was, in fact, divided into spheres of influence by an agreement concluded between Great Britain and France before the Arab came into the war, France taking Syria and Great Britain Mesopotamia. Both Governments formally declared in November, 1918, that their intention was not to impose any particular institution on the populations of these countries, but to support such indigenous administrations as the people should set up by their own will and choice.

CHINA'S ASPIRATIONS

The Executive Committee of the China Society of America sent this cablegram to the American Peace Commissioners at Paris:

The China Society bespeaks for the President and his associates at the Peace Conference favorable consideration of the claims and deservings of China. The recognition of the absolute right of the Chinese people to direct their own affairs without dictation from outside is just as necessary as similar recognition for any other power. We warmly commend the attitude of the Chinese delegation now in Paris in asking for China as an allied nation the full recognition of its sovereignty, the right to regulate its own customs service, subject only to its freely made financial obligations, the restoration of all territory in China formerly held by Germany and Austria; the equality of China with all allied nations in treaty rights, and equal commercial opportunities along with the open-door policy promulgated by John Hay and his

successors.

China does not ask to be relieved of her proper obligations, but does insist upon her right to ask that all treaties and agreements made by her during the present war should be classed as similar treaties, made between ally nations, and that the right of China to make treaties favorable to her normal development

should be recognized in the present world readjustment.

China has been seriously handicapped by unjust treaty regulations imposed upon her, such as the 5 per cent. tariff, and in her efforts to secure the funds required to develop her national resources, maintain her railways, industries, and other enterprises. We ask that China be relieved from the oppressive influences and exactions forced upon her by outside pressure.

PETITION FROM KOREA

A Peking dispatch of Feb. 28 stated that members of the "Independence Committee," representing the Korean people living in China, had presented to the American Minister a petition asking that the United States Government intercede with the Peace Conference in behalf of the Korean people. Accompanying the petition was the following interesting document, setting forth the Korean claims:

Firstly-For 4,000 years Korea was an independent nation.

Secondly-The Kingdom of Korea during the last few hundred years of its existence paid tribute in native produce to China. China did not interfere with the internal administration of the country, which had its own administration and was entirely independent.

Thirdly-Using as a pretext the independence of Korea, Japan went to war with China in 1894 and 1895. The Treaty of Shimonoseki admitted the independence of Korea, which was recognized by various foreign powers. Japan's assistance of Korea was only a pretext for the purpose of robbing Korea of its sovereignty, and was actually in fulfillment of Japan's purpose to injure the Korean administration.

Fourthly-In 1904 Japan went to war rith Russia. She declared that the war as fought to maintain the independence of Korea.

Fifthly-Japan annexed Korea in 1910, abandoning her national honor and treaty obligations. The act was in total defiance of moral principles. That was in an age when might made right and no nation offered objection or extended pity to Korea.

Sixthly-Under the pressure of Japan, the insane Emperor of Korea gave up the sovereignty of the country.

Seventhly-One man, Liwan Yung, knew about this act. Can one man give privately one nation to another nation? Is it a thing to be pawned? This was not the action of the nation, but of its Emperor.

Eighthly-Japan surrounded the Korean Emperor's palace with troops of a model army and spies were placed everywhere to terrorize the Koreans.

Ninthly-Paying them well, Japan bought the traitors of Korea. Many refused to accept the filthy money and those who could not be bought were imprisoned.

President Wilson was asked by the Korean National Association of the United States to initiate action at the Peace Conference looking to independence for Korea, with the country to be guided by a mandatary until such time as the League of Nations should decide that it fit for full self-government."

was

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COLONIES IN THE PACIFIC One of the most delicate questions before the Peace Congress is the settlement

of the rival claims to the Pacific islands and Kiao-Chau, on the southern coast of the Peninsula of Shantung, China, formerly German colonies. The islands are almost the only countries specifically mentioned in the covenant of the League of Nations as requiring particular guardianship. The references in this document to their small size and "geographical contiguity to the mandatary State" were regarded by the world as foreshadowing their division among the powers that had administered them since they were taken from Germany four years ago— that is, by Japan, Australia, and New Zealand-and the absence of mention of Kiao-Chau in the connection was taken to indicate that that little territory would be returned to China.

General Townshend in Captivity

General Sir Charles Townshend told the story of his two and a half years of captivity to his fellow-townsmen of Norfolk some weeks after his release. After referring to the sufferings that had finally forced him to surrender Kut-elAmara and his whole army to the Turks, he said he would like to tell of his experiences as a prisoner. All information about his men was kept from him. He was at once taken away by the Turks, and when he arrived at Constantinople he was met by the officers of the army at that place. They treated him with great honor. He was closely watched, for he did not give his parole. All the letters he endeavored to send, and all that were sent to him, were burned. But the main trouble rested with the Germans.

He asked Enver Pasha to lighten the men's captivity and get parole, and Enver promised most politely that everything would be done, but he spoke to the German officers, and everything promised was altered. Townshend had heard

nothing at that time of the horrors that happened on the march, and had since been made clear in May, 1918. He got a letter from Earl Curzon telling him of the horrors of the march, and it was only then that he understood what had happened.

Finally Enver Pasha's Government was withdrawn, and the next day the new Government sent for him, and said, "Will you help us?" He said he would on one condition-he must be free before he left the Sublime Porte, and if Turkey wanted England to make peace they must open the Dardanelles. He came away with the consent of the opening of the Dardanelles in his pocket and a promise for liberation at once of prisoners of war and also a promise that the Black Sea fleet should not come through the Bosporus, not a bad half hour's work. The armistice signed by the Turkish envoys and Admiral Calthorp on the Island of Lemnos a few days later was the result of General Townshend's mission.

Civil Warfare in Germany

Assassination of Kurt Eisner and the Radical Upheaval That Followed It Throughout the Country

T

[PERIOD ENDED MARCH 18, 1919]

66 war

HE efforts of the Ebert Government to construct a stable form of public order continued in February and March to meet with sinister counter-revolutionary activities. Idleness, both from the cessation of industry and what had been termed weariness" seeking relief in an orgy of extravagant pleasure, together with increasing food shortage, were contributing elements furthering the efforts of the Spartacans to plunge the whole nation into political and social chaos. if grasping a firebrand ready to the hand of opportunity, supporters of the fallen monarchy came out of hiding to add to the general tumult.

As

After Feb. 15 strikes spread with alarming rapidity from Berlin throughout Central Germany to the Ruhr industrial region along the Rhine. A Berlin dispatch of Feb. 17 stated that the Ruhr district Soviets in conference demanded the reinstatement of the Münster Council in all its rights, and the removal, trial, and punishment of General von Watten, together with his officers, for dissolving the Seventh Army Corps Soldiers' Council. After occupying a number of places, the Spartacans proceeded to fortify the waterworks and electric power houses at Düsseldorf, Mülheim, and Hamborn. Armed Spartacans had reached Essen. An anti-Government order was issued against the delivery of coal requisitioned by the Government. Coal production in the Ruhr district had fallen to 10 per cent. of normal. Government was concentrating 30,000 troops to suppress the Spartacans in the Ruhr district, and Marshal Foch had agreed to the employment of such troops in the neutral zone to deal with local disturbances.

The

At Munich, Bavaria, Dr. Levine, a Russian Bolshevik, recently liberated by

the Munich Spartacans, made a speech in which he demanded that the members of the Ministry who were opposing Eisner be thrown out and that a Soviet republic be instituted.

or

REPORT OF BRITISH OFFICERS

A report of the conditions in Germany issued by an investigating commission of twelve British officers, under date of Paris, Feb. 20, stated that either famine Bolshevism-probably both-would ensue before the next harvest, if outside help were not forthcoming. The chief places visited by the officers were Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Hanover, Leipsic, Dresden, Magdeburg, and Cassel. They found 200,000 unemployed in Berlin, increasing at the rate of 5,000 a day; 72,000 in Hamburg, Munich 32,000, and Leipsic 22,000. The report continued:

The increase in unemployment forms the most dangerous element in the present situation. Unemployment and hunger are the chief predisposing causes of Bolshevism, and if these are removed there will be no chance of Bolshevism gaining a foothold in Germany.

All over Germany, except in the coal field areas, industry is stagnant, owing to lack of coal. Railway transport is crippled throughout the country because of the enormous quantity of rolling stock lost since last November, partly under the armistice and partly through abandonment on the front.

The shortage of staple articles of food throughout the country is such that the mass of the population is living upon rations, which, while maintaining life, are insufficient to nourish the body adequately. Mothers and young children are particularly affected. Malnutrition has increased the mortality, diminished births, and given rise to new diseases.

It is difficult to confirm the accuracy of official statements as to the dates when present food stocks will be exhausted, but in general the following terminal dates given by the Central Food Office in Berlin are probably correct: Breadstuffs, the beginning of April; potatoes, the end of

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