1—The Preliminary Sessions in Paris.

The Armistice granted by the Allied Powers to the Central Empires was signed at Spa, on November 11th, 1918. It was virtually the end of the great conflict of nations—hostilities ceased forthwith after over four years of world-war on land and sea and in the air. Immediately it became the duty of the Governments of the allied and associated Powers to initiate the preliminaries of peace. These covered a wide field and constituted a task of unparalleled magnitude and difficulty. The devising and setting up of the elaborate machinery for the supreme conference in the history of mankind was in itself a colossal task. Initial mistakes were made and admitted; doubtless errors of judgment and method were in the circumstances inevitable. The intention was to secure preliminary peace within a month or two, and to reach a solid and permanent peace within a year. Difficulties and devious methods threatened at one stage to reverse the order of intention. But the aim throughout was at a just settlement. The need of secrecy often obscured the high motives of the Peace Conference—it screened completely the immense difficulties of the Allied Council.

The plan of the preliminary conversations between the plenipotentiaries of the allied and associated Powers was drawn up early in January, 1919, and there was held at Versailles a preparatory meeting of the Supreme War Council in order to settle questions of form and substance, such as the representation of belligerent and neutral States, the leading principles, the order in which questions should be examined, and the organisation of the work. A week later the huge machinery of the Peace Conference was established with ample scope for extension. The conversations between the allied Ministers were resumed on the 12th January in the French Foreign Office, at the Quai D'Orsay, Paris.

page 198

The main body of the Peace Conference was the Council of Ten, comprising the prime ministers and foreign ministers of Great Britain, France and Italy, and two plenipotentiaries each of the United States of America, and of Japan. The members of the Council at most of their conferences were M. Clemenceau (President), President Wilson and Hon. R. Lansing (America) Rt. Hon. D. Lloyd George and Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour (British Empire), M. Pichon (second plenipotentiary of France), M. Orlando and Baron Sonnino (Italy) and Baron Makine and Mr. Matsui (Japan). Interpreter: Professor J. Mantoux (France). Each Power had the right to change its personnel of plenipotentiaries, and many changes were made, although the principal delegates always remained the "Big Ten." As time went on, and flaws were discovered in the secrecy of the Council's conferences, the number was gradually reduced to four—M. Clemenceau, President Wilson, Mr. Lloyd George, and M. Orlando. During the grave days of the Fiume incident, the number was only three.

The Council may be regarded as the "Steering Committee" of the Conference, with executive power. The spade work of the Conference was done by numerous Commissions and Sub-Commissions of the Conference, assisted by an army of expert advisers. The Council of Ten occasionally became the Supreme War Council, when it was assisted by the military and naval representatives of the allied and associated powers, whose separate and distinct work was carried out at Versailles and Paris.

The general procedure of the Council was to allocate to the commissions the innumerable questions at issue respecting territorial, financial, military, naval, economic, aerial and international affairs. On somewhat rare occasions the Council of Ten met in open conference with all the delegates, thus forming what was rather loosely called a plenary conference. The chief duty of the plenary conference was really to endorse the preparatory and, later, the final decisions of the Council, who exercised the sole right of determining all matters of policy. The constructive work of the plenary conference was not at any time difficult to measure. The commissions page 199were appointed by the plenary conference, but their orders of reference were prepared and issued by the Council. The commissions, in turn, divided their work into self-contained sections, and appointed sub-commissions to deal with each section and report to each main commission, which, in turn, reported to the plenary conference, or to the Council. Many of the territorial commissions were appointed by the Council without reference to the plenary conference at all. All this complicated machinery necessitated the continuous presence in Paris of an army of officials and departmental experts of many grades. Such was the mechanism of the Peace Conference. The British system, as indeed were those of all the delegations, was on similar lines as regards constitution and procedure. There was this difference, however, owing to the unique position of the British Empire: a common British policy was maintained by means of periodic meetings of the British Empire delegation, which was akin in form and work to the Imperial War Cabinet.

It was not until exactly two months from the signing of the Armistice that a definite procedure had been adopted for the Peace Conference, and a resolution was passed fixing the date of its formal opening. The representation of the Powers was fixed at five each for the United States of America, the British Empire, France, Italy and Japan, three for Brazil, two for Belgium, China, Greece, Poland, Portugal, Roumania, Serbia, and the Czecho-Slavok Republic, and one for Cuba, Guatemala, Hayti, Honduras, Liberia, Nicaragua, Panama, and Siam. After much discussion it was agreed to give the British Dominions and India the following representation:—Two delegates each for Canada, Australia, South Africa, and India (including the Native States), and one delegate for New Zealand. The precedence of the great Allied Powers were fixed alphabetically, as follows:—America, British Empire, France, Italy, and Japan. It was arranged that the work of the Conference should only be made public by means of official daily bulletins—rather a weak vehicle of expression. The question as to the official language of the Conference was never really determined.

page 200

The first plenary session of the Inter-Allied Conference was held in the Peace Rooms at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris, on January 18th (three days before the New Zealand Delegation arrived in Paris). It was opened under the presidency of M. Raymond Poincare, President of the Republic of France. Twenty-two Allied Powers and States were represented.

President Poincare, in concluding an eloquent speech, said:—"This very day, forty-eight years ago, on the 18th of January, 1871, the German Empire was proclaimed by an army of invasion in the Chateau at Versailles. It was consecrated by the theft of two French Provinces. It was thus vitiated from its origin and by the faults of its founders. It contained at its birth the germ of decay and of death. Born in injustice, it has ended in opprobrium. You are assembled in order to repair the evil that it has done and to prevent, a recurrence of it. You hold in your hands the future of the world. I leave you, gentlemen, to your grave deliberations, and I declare the Conference of Paris open."

M. Clemenceau, President of the French Council of Ministers and Minister of War, temporarily took the chair, and, later, on the graceful motion of President Wilson, supported by Mr. Lloyd George, and Baron Sonnino, was appointed as permanent Chairman of the Peace Conference. The Great Conference of Paris, with all its difficulties and dangers still ahead, was at last in definite, if laboured, movement towards a goal set on the very summit of idealism.

The order of procedure was elaborated, and provision was made for the appointment of Commissions to deal with a score of vital questions, including the League of Nations, the responsibility of the authors of the war and penalties for crimes committed during the war, international labour legislation, Polish affairs, Russian affairs, the Baltic Nationalities, the States formed from the late Austro-Hungary Monarchy, Balkan affairs, Eastern affairs, international ports, railways and waterways, Jewish affairs, affairs of the Far East and of the Pacific, international legislation respecting patents and trade marks, reparation, legislation affecting pre-war contracts, treaties, economic page 201systems (transitory and permanent), finance, international river navigation, arms traffic, territorial boundaries, and claims of new states. That list, incomplete as it is, at once gives an idea of the immense task of the Conference.

2—The New Zealand Delegation.

The New Zealand delegation, consisting of the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, P.C. (Prime Minister), and the Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Ward, P.C. (Minister of Finance), accompanied by Mr. F. D. Thomson, C.M.G., private secretary to the Prime Minister (Mr. Thomson was subsequently appointed an assistant secretary to the British Empire delegation, and took part in the reporting of many of its important conferences), Mr. R. Riley, official journalist, and Miss A. Saunders, private secretary to Sir Joseph Ward, arrived in Paris from London on the evening of January 21. The Ministers were informed officially of the decision of the Council of the Great Powers that New Zealand should be represented by only one delegate at the Peace Conference. Mr. Massey conferred with Mr. Lloyd George the following day, and arrangements were at once made to have the question of New Zealand's representation discussed at a meeting of the British Empire delegation the same day. After statements had been made by the New Zealand Ministers at the private session of the delegation, it was unanimously decided that Sir Joseph Ward be appointed a member of the panel of British delegates with the right of attending the plenary sessions of the Peace Conference and the meetings of the British Empire delegation.

It may be explained that the British Empire had been allotted no fewer than fourteen plenipotentiaries, with five in the most powerful section of the Conference.

The question of the disposal of the former German colonies and the claims of the British Dominions thereto came before the Council of the Allied and Associated Powers on the afternoon of January 24th. Mr. Massey presented the claims of New Zealand respecting the future control of German Samoa. The Rt. Hon. W. M. Hughes presented the case for Australia regarding German New Guinea, and other islands in the South Pacific, and Lieut.-General Smuts (in the absence of General Botha) for the Union of South page 202Africa in regard to German South-West Africa. All advocated, with certain reservations concerning purely Dominions' interests, the policy of the British Empire.

There was complete unanimity as regards the non-restoration of the ex-German Colonies. The only question at issue was the manner in which these territories should be disposed of and administered. The Council of the Powers was opposed to anything in the form of a simple division of the spoils of victory. Three methods of disposal were put forward, and, of these, two were at once rejected. These were internationalisation or direct control by the League of Nations and annexation. The first was deemed to be impracticable, and the second was in flat contradiction of one of the cardinal points of President Wilson's catechism of settlement. Attention was concentrated upon the novel proposal to adopt mandatory control. This was to establish administration through mandatories acting on behalf of the League of Nations. The main idea was to attach any one of these territories in which the interests of the backward inhabitants were to be conserved and promoted to its nearest neighbour capable of being responsible for the development of the territory and its people. There was to be no exploitation of any people and no exercise of arbitrary sovereignty over any people. The purpose was to safeguard the natives against abuses until such time as they could consciously express a desire for complete union with the mandatory State. As to the operation of any mandate the League would primarily lay down general principals aiming at the betterment of the native inhabitants. There should be no discrimination against any members of the League; economic access to the territory would be open to all. The oversea delegates did not assail the fundamental principle of this proposal, but they opposed keenly the committal of their respective countries to a blind trust in a supervisory organisation which in fact did not then exist, and which in theory was merely a skeleton of immature ideas and lofty ideals.

The respective claims of the Dominions' representatives were based on common ground. Each sought permanent page 203freedom from the past menace of German control of neighbouring territories, and from even the influence of German "peaceful penetration." German influence had been swept out of the South Pacific, and it was desired to have it kept out for ever.

3—The Future of Samoa.

As regards the fate of German Samoa, it was admitted by the principal members of the Council that Mr. Massey presented New Zealand's case "powerfully, skilfully and with fairness." The Prime Minister pointed out that Samoa was of great strategic importance, and the key to the South Pacific. It had been so used by Germany, and New Zealand was opposed to any revival of the former menacing conditions. The Islands had been seized and occupied by the Dominion's troops, and successfully administered on behalf of the Imperial government. He acknowledged the naval assistance given on behalf of the Imperial government by the battle-cruiser Australia, and the French ship of war, the Montcalm. He recounted the unhappy history of the natives of German Samoa, and their repeated efforts and appeals to secure British protection, and referred in detail to New Zealand's treatment of the Maoris, whose response to the call for volunteers was proof of their satisfaction with British rule, and proof of their fine loyalty to the British Empire. Many Maoris had been accepted as first-class fighting men. Besides these there were the Natives of Rarotonga, Niue, and Fiji, who had rendered good work in the great war. He had received many pathetic letters from people of the native races begging that never again should they be placed under German rule. After the Germans had appeared in the South Pacific and settled in Samoa, the result was an unhappy period for the natives of Samoa, who had suffered civil war due largely, it had been alleged, to German interference. In 1889 the Great Powers took an interest in the affairs of the unhappy island. Germany sent a fleet of warships, the United States of America also sent a fleet to meet them and the British Government sent one smart second-class cruiser. A hurricane, "within the duration of a single day, broke the sword-arm of each of two angry Powers, reduced their page 204formidable ships to junk, and changed their disciplined hundreds to hordes of castaways." The British ship rode into the gale and was saved. The natives had looked upon the historic hurricane as providential. Later, a sort of protectorate was established of the three powers—Germany, United States of America, and Great Britain. The result, to say the least, had not been satisfactory. Joint control of natives had almost always, and everywhere, been a failure. There was not in his opinion any prospect of success in any form of joint control. On behalf of the people of New Zealand, on behalf of the people of the South Sea Islands, and for the sake of humanity Mr. Massey most strongly urged that German Samoa should be allowed to remain under British control.

After all the claims had been heard by the Council, there was a protracted discussion on the details of the proposed mandatory system of control. The representatives of the Dominions urged the adoption of a direct form of government and security of tenure in order to encourage development. Mr. Massey emphasised the New Zealand point of view as regards the desire for dependable protection from the possibilities of having in the future some turbulent and ambitious power in that part of the world. Keen opposition was offered to the principle of an "open door" and the oversea delegates presented their argument so effectively that the Council eventually agreed to accept the British proposals, establishing a form of direct administration of the former enemy territories in the South Pacific by each mandatory State as integral portions of that State subject to certain safeguards dealing with the prohibition of former abuses such as the slave trade, forced labour, the liquor traffic, and the prevention of the establishment of fortifications or military or naval bases. This agreement was accepted as being only provisional, but it became the basis of final settlement. The Council's resolution was subsequently incorporated in the Covenant of the League of Nations.

The draft mandate given to New Zealand for the control of Samoa on behalf of the League of Nations is here given as a document of historic interest:—

page 205

1.	Germany renounces all rights and title over the islands constituting German Samoa.
2.	The Allied and Associated Powers entrust the government of the islands to his Britannic Majesty to be exercised by His Majesty's Government of the Dominion of New Zealand. The said Government shall have full legislative, administrative and judicial power over the islands as an integral portion of the territory of New Zealand and may apply the laws of New Zealand thereto, subject to such local modifications as circumstances may require.
3.	His Britannic Majesty in and for His Government of the Dominion of New Zealand accepts the mandate for the administration of the islands upon the footing that the trust is imposed and accepted for the well-being and development of the peoples of the islands, and to that end undertakes that the slave trade and forced labour shall be prohibited, the traffic in arms and ammunition shall be controlled in accordance with any general Convention which may be entered into by the High Contracting Parties in this behalf, the sale of spirituous liquors to the natives shall be prohibited, and the military training of the natives otherwise than for purposes of internal police and the local defence of the islands shall be prohibited. Furthermore, no military or naval bases shall be established and no fortifications shall be erected in the islands either by the Government of New Zealand or by any other Power or person.
4.	The value of the property in the islands belonging to the German Government shall be assessed and shall be reckoned in the Inter-Allied Reparation Fund and regarded as allocated to the share of the Government of New Zealand.
5.	The expenses of the administration of the islands, if the revenues obtained from local sources are insufficient, will be defrayed by the Government of New Zealand.
6.	If at any time the native inhabitants of the islands express a desire to be united with New Zealand, and if the Council of the League of Nations consider this desire on their part to be conscious and well-founded and calculated to promote their interests, the Allied and Associated Governments agree that effect shall be given to it by the Council page 206of the League and the islands shall thereupon be incorporated in New Zealand for all purposes, and the administration under this Convention shall be regarded as at an end, provided that all the undertakings set out in Article 3, including the prohibition against the establishment of military or naval bases or fortifications shall be maintained, and shall continue to operate in the islands after such incorporation.
7.	The inhabitants of the islands shall be entitled to British diplomatic protection when in foreign countries.
8.	The Government of the Dominion of New Zealand will make an annual report containing full information with regard to the islands and indicating the measures taken to carry out the obligations assumed under Article 3, and the extent to which the well-being and development of the inhabitants is progressing.

Copies of this report will be presented to the Council of the League of Nations.

The decision of the Council of the Allied and Associated Powers in regard to the disposal of all the former German colonies was as follows:—

• Togoland and Cameroons:—France and Great Britain to make a joint recommendation to the League of Nations.
• German East Africa:—The mandate shall be held by Great Britain. German South-West Africa:—The mandate shall be held by the Union of South Africa.
• The German Samoan Islands:—The mandate shall be held by New Zealand.
• The other German Pacific Possessions South of the Equator (excluding the German Samoan Islands and Nauru):—The mandate shall be held by Australia.
• Nauru:—The mandate shall be given to the British Empire.
• The German Pacific Islands north of the Equator (Marshall and Caroline Islands):—The mandate shall be held by Japan.

4—Nauru Island.

The unique disposal of the small island of Nauru calls for some explanation. It was claimed by Australia on the ground of the right of conquest, a small party from an page 207Australian light cruiser having landed and taken formal possession of the territory. Mr. Massey, on behalf of New Zealand, urged a form of control different from that proposed by the Council of the allied powers in respect of the former German colonies in the Pacific. He pointed out in the course of memoranda to the Colonial and Foreign Offices, and also to the British Empire delegation, that Nauru differed from other enemy possessions in that it did not present any problem as regards the development of backward inhabitants. The island contained rich deposits of phosphate rock, which had been worked first by a German company and, later, by a British company under lease. The value of the deposits was estimated by experts to be considerable. In view of the pressing necessity for the supply of phosphates to producing countries, such as New Zealand and Australia, he suggested that the island should be held under a form of mandate which would conserve the interests of both, and also of Great Britain. The Colonial Office thought that the mandate should go to the British Empire so that all their interests might be considered. To this Mr. Massey was willing to consent. Australia's representatives objected, urging that their forces had taken possession of the territory. The reply to this was that the island was seized for the Empire and not for any part of it. The Council adopted the views of the British Colonial Office, and New Zealand's plenipotentiary.

The main points of the subsequent agreement arrived at between the British Government, the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia, and the Government of the Dominion of New Zealand are these:—The administration of the island is to be vested in an Administrator to be appointed for the first five years by Australia and thereafter by the three Governments; all expenses have to be defrayed out of the proceeds of the sale of the phosphates; the title to the phosphate deposits is to be vested in a Board of Commissioners, while the present interests of the Pacific Phosphate Company shall be converted into a claim for compensation at a fair valuation; compensation to be paid proportionately by the three Governments; the Commissioners must dispose of the phosphates for the agricultural requirements of the page 208United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand at a fixed price f.o.b., so far as these requirements extend; surplus output may be sold at the best price obtainable. The allotment of proportion of supply is 42% each to Great Britain and Australia, and 14% to New Zealand, this allotment to be readjusted at the end of every five years.

5—Breaches of the Laws of War.

The Conference set up in January a Commission to inquire into the responsibility for the war, and the enforcement of penalties for breaches of the laws of war and humanity. It consisted of fifteen members, and the British representatives were the Rt. Hon. Sir Gordon Hewart, K.C. (Attorney-General) or Sir Ernest Pollock (Solicitor-General) and the Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey, PC. (Prime Minister of New Zealand). The Hon. Robert Lansing, the principal representative of the United States of America, was appointed President of the Commission. The work covered so wide a field that it was found necessary to appoint three Sub-Commissions. The first of these was the Sub-Commission on Facts. It selected Mr. Massey as chairman, and, later, appointed him chairman of the Drafting Committee. The Commission's indictment of the enemy powers has no parallel in history, and "constitutes the most striking list of crimes that has ever been drawn up to the eternal shame of those who committed them." The catalogue of enemy crimes should be included in every Allied history of the great war in order to convince future generations of the immense heritage of freedom gained for them by the Allied armies and navies.

The catalogue (which was not regarded by the Sub-Commission on Facts as complete and exhaustive) is as follows:—

(1)	Murders and massacres; systematic terrorism.
(2)	Putting hostages to death.
(3)	Torture of civilians,
(4)	Deliberate starvation of civilians.
(5)	Rape.
(6)	Abduction of girls and women for the purpose of enforced prostitution.page 209
(7)	Deportation of civilians.
(8)	Internment of civilians under inhumane conditions.
(9)	Forced labour of civilians in connection with the military operations of the enemy, and otherwise.
(10)	Usurpation of sovereignty during military occupation.
(11)	Compulsory enlistment of soldiers among the inhabitants of occupied territory.
(12)	Attempts to denationalise the inhabitants of occupied territory.
(13)	Pillage.
(14)	Confiscation of property.
(15)	Exaction of illegitimate or of exorbitant contributions and requisitions.
(16)	Debasement of the currency, and issue of spurious currency.
(17)	Imposition of collective penalties.
(18)	Wanton devastation and destruction of property.
(19)	Deliberate bombardment of undefended places.
(20)	Wanton destruction of religious, charitable, educational, and historic buildings and monuments.
(21)	Destruction of merchant ships and passenger vessels without visit or warning and without provision for the safety of passengers or crew.
(22)	Destruction of fishing boats and of relief ships.
(23)	Deliberate bombardment of hospitals.
(24)	Attack on and destruction of hospital ships.
(25)	Breach of other rules relating to the Red Cross.
(26)	Use of deleterious and asphyxiating gases.
(27)	Use of explosive or expanding bullets, and other inhumane appliances.
(28)	Directions to give no quarter.
(29)	Ill-treatment of wounded and prisoners of war.
(30)	Employment of prisoners of war on unauthorised works.
(31)	Misuse of flags of truce.
(32)	Boisoning of wells.

Many of the crimes investigated, and "so vouched for that they admit of no doubt, and cry for justice," were so revolting as to the obscenities practised on men and women by page 210enemy officials, officers, and soldiers, that the Sub-Commission on Facts decided, in the interests of common decency, not to publish the details. The Sub-Commission, however, attached to its comprehensive report an annexure containing particulars of the offences committed by the enemy powers during the war, the various localities and dates, the responsible authors, and references to the sources of facts. It was decided not to publish (for obvious reasons) the names of the responsible authors and perpetrators of the offences enumerated. The most appalling crimes were committed in Belgium, Poland, Serbia, Greece, and in several Turkish provinces, and particularly the Armenian vilayets. In Belgium during the last ten days of August, 1914, German troops, with the consent of their general, massacred over one thousand inhabitants of Tamines, Ardennes (which was deliberately burnt down), Dinant, and Liege. In the Armenian vilayets at different periods during the years of the war, more than two hundred thousand victims were assassinated, burned alive, or drowned in the Lake of Van, the Euphrates, and the Black Sea. The Commission had the names of more than fifty officials who were directly responsible for these wholesale massacres. In Serbia, executions were carried out en masse, gallows having been set up in several places, like flagstaffs for a gala. The Bulgarians favoured degrading tortures of their victims. In every conceivable form—and, from the point of view of civilised communities, in many inconceivable forms—Germany and her allies "piled outrage upon outrage …. and were guilty of the most cruel practices which primitive barbarism, aided by all the resources of modern science, could devise for the execution of a system of terrorism, carefully planned and carried out to the end."

The conclusions of the Commission and its recommendations were briefly these:—"The war was premeditated by the Central Powers together with their allies, Turkey and Bulgaria, and was the result of acts deliberately committed to make it unavoidable. Germany, in agreement with Austria-Hungary, deliberately worked to defeat all the many conciliatory proposals made by the Entente Powers and their page 211repeated efforts to avoid war. The neutrality of Belgium, guaranteed by the Treaty of the 19th April, 1839, and that of Luxemburg, guaranteed by the Treaty of the 11th May, 1867, were deliberately violated by Germany and Austria-Hungary. The war was carried on by the Central Empires and their allies by barbarous or illegitimate methods in violation of the established laws and customs of war and the elementary laws of humanity. All persons belonging to enemy countries, without distinction of rank, including Chiefs of States, who have been guilty of offences against the laws and customs of war and the elementary laws of humanity, are liable to criminal prosecution."

The decision of the Council of the Allied and Associated Powers in respect of responsibilities for the war and the enforcement of penalties for breaches of the laws and customs of war was as follows:—"The Allied and Associated Powers publicly arraign William II. of Hohenzollern, formerly German Emperor, for a supreme offence against international morality and the sanctity of treaties. The Ex-Emperor's surrender is to be requested of Holland, and a special tribunal set up composed of one judge from each of the five Great Powers, with full guarantees of the right of defence. It is to be guided 'by the highest motives of international policy with a view of vindicating the solemn obligations of international undertakings and the validity of international morality,' and will fix the punishment it feels should be imposed."

The Council also decided that other German criminals who violated the laws of war would have to be surrendered by their Government, and tried before military tribunals in Allied countries, the accused to have the right to name his own counsel.

6—The League of Nations.

Of the Allied structure of world Peace the League of Nations was considered to be both the foundation and the coping stone. The foundation was laid at the second plenary session of the Peace Conference held on January 25th, at the French Foreign Office, Quai d'Orsay, Paris, when and where it was decided to appoint a Commission of the page 212Conference to examine the question of creating the League of Nations. President Wilson, the chief architect, so to speak, insisted during the discussion on the question, that the League must be made a vital thing with vital continuity and continuing functions, and that it should be the eye of the nations to keep watch upon the common interest, an eye "that does not slumber, an eye that is everywhere watchful and attentive." The Commission entered upon its work with earnest enthusiasm and energy, and the first draft of the Covenant of the League was presented to the third plenary session of the Peace Conference on February 14. The report was received with complete approval as to the principles and aims of the League, but it was obvious that almost all of the twenty-six Articles of the Covenant would have to be reconstructed in order to make the League a "vital thing with vital continuity."

And so it proved. From the first publication of the crude Covenant to its acceptance in amended and immeasurably improved form, the League of Nations Commission had the benefit of an exchange of views with the representatives of thirteen neutral Governments, and also of much criticism on both sides of the Atlantic. It should be recorded that the most earnest advocates of the League were never at any time shy of criticism, and welcomed censure of weaknesses, and advice as means to a desirable end. They realised that in order to attain a practical issue to an ideal many difficulties must be grappled with and overcome. The document that emerged from the protracted discussions was not, as was officially confessed, the Constitution of a super-State, but a solemn agreement between sovereign States, which consented to limit their complete freedom of action on certain points for the greater good of themselves and the world at large. The Covenant was constructed on the assumption that the League must continue to depend on the free consent, in the last resort, of its component States, the ultimate and effective sanction being essentially the public opinion of the civilised world. And it was decided with prudence and practical common-sense to allow the League, as a living organism, to discover its own best lines of development. It was agreed, on page 213the understanding that the Covenant was to form part of the Treaty of Peace, that the Article dealing with the question of membership of the League should be so worded as to enable the enemy powers to agree to the League's constitution, without, at once, becoming members of it. It was hoped that the original members of the League would consist of the thirty-two Allied and Associated Powers, signatories of the Treaty of Peace, and of thirteen neutral States, the original members joining without reservation and all accepting the same obligations.

The principal obligations accepted by members were the provisions designed to secure international confidence and the avoidance of war. These comprised:—(1) Limitation of armaments; (2) A mutual guarantee of territory and independence; (3) An admission that any circumstance which threatens international peace is an international interest; (4) An agreement not to go to war till a peaceful settlement of a dispute has been tried; (5) Machinery for securing a peaceful settlement, with provision for publicity; (6) The sanctions to be employed to punish a breach of agreement in (4); (7) Similar provisions for settling disputes where States not members of the League are concerned.

The Covenant made it plain that there was to be no dictation by the Council of the League or by anyone else as to the size of national forces. Provision was also made for functions of the League in peace; including an undertaking to throw the aegis of the League over the Labour Convention; the care and development of backward peoples in former enemy territories to be forthwith administered under the mandatory system of control; the regulation of the arms traffic with uncivilised and semi-civilised countries; and many questions affecting the peace of the world. The Covenant of the League was adopted unanimously at the fifth plenary session of the Peace Conference on Monday, April 28th, both New Zealand Ministers being present.

7—International Labour Legislation.

This important question was first discussed at the second plenary conference, held on January 25th, when it was page 214decided to appoint a Commission to examine the proposal to prepare an International Labour Convention. The Commission, which held many conferences under the presidency of Mr. Samuel Gompers, of the United States of America, submitted its report and recommendations to the fourth plenary session of the Peace Conference on February 14th.

The following methods and principles, which were deemed to be of special and urgent importance, were adopted:—

(1)	The guiding principle that labour should not be regarded merely as a commodity or article of commerce.
(2)	The right of association for all lawful purposes by the employed as well as by the employers.
(3)	The payment to the employed of a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable standard of life as this is understood in their time and country.
(4)	The adoption of an eight hours day or a forty-eight hours week as the standard to be aimed at where it has not already been obtained.
(5)	The adoption of a weekly rest of at least twenty-four hours, which should include Sunday wherever practicable.
(6)	The abolition of child labour and the imposition of such limitations on the labour of young persons as shall permit the continuation of their education and assure their proper physical development.
(7)	The principle that men and women should receive equal remuneration for work of equal value.
(8)	The standard set by law in each country with respect to the conditions of labour should have due regard to the equitable economic treatment of all workers lawfully resident therein.
(9)	Each State should make provision for a system of inspection, in which women should take part, in order to secure the enforcement of the laws and regulations for the protection of the employed.

page 215

It was provided in the Convention adopted that each self-governing Dominion in the British Empire should have the status of a High Contracting Party. Generally considered, the terms of the Convention aimed principally at the improvement of labour conditions in Europe, but many of the provisions had an important bearing on the Labour movement in all civilised countries.

8—The Treaty of Peace.

The Allied and Associated Powers' terms for Germany were presented to the German delegates at Versailles on Wednesday, May 7th, 1919,—the fourth anniversary of the sinking of the Lusitania by a German submarine. The historic ceremony took place in the dining-room of the Trianon Palace Hotel; and the representatives of the great Allied Powers were given proof of the unchanged spirit of Germany, whose plenipotentiaries were truculent, and deliberately insolent. Count Brockdorff-Rantzau, the head of the German delegation, remained seated, and spoke contemptuously in his native tongue, although he was able to speak perfectly either in French or English. At no time were the German delegates subjected to any form of humiliation, the Allied authorities having taken every precaution to protect them from hostile treatment.

There was a full attendance of the delegates of the Allied and Associated Powers, the Italian representatives having returned from their impulsive mission to Rome in connection with the dispute over the fate of Fiume. Mr. Massey, Prime Minister, represented New Zealand, and Sir Joseph Ward was present as a member of the British panel of plenipotentiaries. Germany was represented by six delegates.

M. Clemenceau, the veteran President of the Supreme Council of the Allied and Associated Powers, in the course of a brief dignified speech, informed the German delegates that there would be no verbal intercourse with them, and that they would be given fifteen days in which to present in writing their observations on the Peace Treaty. It was a solemn ceremony.

page 216

Count Rantzau replied in terms of cold and studied insolence. He confessed the degree of German's powerlessness, but declared that to confess themselves to be the only ones guilty of the war would in his mouth be a lie. "We energetically deny," he added, "that Germany and its people, who were convinced that they were making a war of defence, were alone guilty………… In the last fifty years Imperialism of all European States has chronically poisoned the international situation…. But in the manner of making war, Germany is not the only guilty one. Every nation knows of deeds and of people which the best nationals only remember with regret. I do not want to answer by reproaches to reproaches, but I ask them to remember, when reparation is demanded, not to forget the Armistice. It took you six weeks till we got it at last, and six months till we came to know your conditions of peace. Crimes in war may not be excusable, but they are committed in the struggle for victory and in the defence of national existence, and passions are aroused which make the conscience of people blunt. The hundreds of thousands of non-combatants who have perished since the 11th of November by reason of the blockade were killed with cold deliberation, after our adversaries had conquered and victory had been assured to them. Think of that when you speak of guilt and of punishment." He also said a great deal more in the same strain of sneering contempt, and concluded by stating that the Treaty of Peace would be examined by the Germans with goodwill. Thereupon the German delegates passed out scowling into the Spring sunshine and the promise of Peace.

The main terms of the Treaty were these:—The surrender of practically all Germany's merchant fleet, the replacement of losses ton for ton, and the construction of a million tons of shipping for the Allies; disarmament on land and sea, and in the air with these limitations: an army of 100,000 men (including 4000 officers) and the immediate abolition of conscription; a navy consisting of 6 battleships, 6 light cruisers, 12 destroyers, 12 torpedo boats, no submarines, 15,000 officers and men; aircraft, nil; cession to France page 217of Alsace and Lorraine, and the coal-fields in the Saar Valley—the latter for fifteen years, the control thereafter to be determined by a plebiscite; the surrender of all Germany's oversea possessions; surrender of the Ex-Kaiser and war criminals for trial; payment of £1,000,000,000 as first instalment of the total bill, to be fixed by 1921, and to be paid in 30 years; surrender of Dantzig, also part of Silesia, East Prussia, and Schleswig; the Allied occupation of the left bank of the Rhine for 15 years as a guarantee of Germany's fulfilment of the terms of the Treaty.

The Treaty of Peace with Germany was, after the Allied and Associated Powers had agreed to modify several conditions in detail without altering the cardinal principles of the terms, signed on June 28th, in the famous Hall of Mirrors in the Chateau of Versailles. Mr. Massey attended the historic ceremony,, and in the exercise of full powers as New Zealand's plenipotentiary, affixed his signature to the Treaty, the Protocol and the Rhineland Convention. The British Empire plenipotentiaries signed in the following order:—United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland: Rt. Hon. David Lloyd George, First Lord of the Treasury and Prime Minister; Rt. Hon. Andrew Bonar Law, M.P., Lord Privy Seal; Rt. Hon. Viscount Milner, Secretary of State for Colonies; Rt. Hon. Arthur James Balfour, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs; and Rt. Hon. George Nicoll Barnes, Minister without portfolio. Dominion of Canada: Rt. Hon. Sir George Eulas Foster, Minister of Trade and Commerce, and Rt. Hon. Charles Joseph Doherty, Minister of Justice. Commonwealth of Australia: Rt. Hon. William Morris Hughes, Attorney-General and Prime Minister, and Rt. Hon. Sir Joseph Cook, Minister for Navy. Union of South Africa: General the Rt. Hon. Louis Botha, Prime Minister, and Lieutenant-General Jan Christian Smuts, K.C. Minister of Defence; Dominion of New Zealand: Rt. Hon. William Ferguson Massey, Minister of Labour and Prime Minister; India: Rt. Hon. Edwin Samuel Montagu, M.P. Secretary of State for India, and Major General His Highness Maharaja Sir Ganga Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of Bikaner.

page 218 page 219

The Treaty was signed by the representatives of 27 Allied and Associated Powers and by two German delegates with full powers. China's plenipotentiaries did not attend the ceremony and reserved their signatures as a protest against the settlement respecting the Shantung Province. Owing to the necessity for gaining passage by the Mauretania, which left Southampton that evening Mr. Massey had to leave Versailles for Havre before the memorable ceremony was concluded.