Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 26 February 1919 — At the Peace Conference [ARTICLE]

At the Peace Conference

More Than Fifty Treaties Will Be Signed

More than fifty treaties of peace yill be signed by the conference being held at Versailles —fvr more than fifty declarations of war were mAde during the course of human events since that memorable day in -1914 when wcxe The exact number of treaties to be promulgated is haed to estimate, says a writer in Ix'slie s, for the crum- ' bling of Austria-Huncarv and of the German empire into segments and fragments tv W when President Wilson stated his fourteen points in his address before congress. As the matter stood then Austria-Hungary had declared war five times. Brazil once, Bulgaria once, China twice, Cuba once, J rance four times. Germany' five times, Great Britain Tour times, Greece four times, Italy four times, Japan once, Liberia once, Montenegro twice, Panama twice. Portugal twice, Boumania once. Serbia twice. Sah Marino once, Siam twice, Turkey twice and theT nited States twice. But since these declarations were made the whirligig of time and the pranks of fate have changed the aspec tof things materially. Baden, Bavaria. Wurttcmberg, Saxony. Hungary—and perchance a dozen other entities mav demand and receive s(‘parate treaties—....T.hfe-..Czeclv^,-SlOVS^ i and the Jugo-Slavs, Armenia. Palestine and the disintegrated'parts of Russia from Esthonia to the Ukraine, may obtain separate treaties. So that when the gigantic labors of the Versailles conference are done more than seventy-five distinct international peace agreements may result. When all the treaties are completed they will be submitted to the treaty-making powers of the respective governments. In the United States the* president is empowered to-make a treaty, which must be ratified bv a two-thirds vote of the senate. In Great Britain the peace-making power is a crown prerogative, subject to the assent of the prime minister acting on the collective advice of thecabinet. . In France the president may negotiate and ratify treaties, a< cording to Article 8 of the constitutional law of 1875, subject to the sanction of the chamber of deputies. In Italy Act 5 of the fundamental statistics of 1848 empowers the king to make peace, communicating this fact to the chamber but not requiring its sanction. In Belgium, under Article 68 of the constitution of 1838, the king makes peace treaties. . Who will accept the peace terms for Germany and for Austria-Hun-gary it is difficult to say. In Germany in worse days, now happily relegated into history, the kaiser had boundless powers, under Article 11 o the constitution of 1871. But the bundesrath was required to give assent and the reichstag had to validate treaties. In Austria, under Act 6 under the constitution of 1867, the emperor was the sole treaty-making power. ’