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Show llltS DISCUSS MKUrS FSTE; ! Differences of Opinion as to Proper Punishment of i Former Kaiser, i BY CHARLES A. SELDEN, fNew York Times Cable. Copyright.) PARIS, March 11. There may be a deviation this week from the i eace rule that all conclusions shall be unanimous when the committee appointed to fix responsibility, re-sponsibility, fo.r, the war finishes its work. Today there is a difference of opinion in that committee whether the ex-kaiser can be p. eld personally responsible and legally punished. If this difference is not removed before the end o'f the present week there will be a majority report to tho effect that ' tie. cannot be punished by the allies and a minority report that he can and should I be. In that case, his fate will rest with , the 'council oT ten, and perhaps pass to j tli e plenary conference for decision. j The American opinion is that the ex- j kaiser cannot be legally responsible in the sense that punishment may be im- j posed upon "him by the allies, and there, is enough backing in the committee to j make that the opinion of the majority. Naturally, Prance takes the other view in the matter. 'T'hou Art the Man.' It may be said, however, that there ia unanimity- in- the committee to the extent of wishing that there was some provision provi-sion of international law by which Willi Wil-li elm could be brought to book, for it is j recognized that, throughout the world, j and particularly in tho United States,! there is a desire to be able to .say le- 1 g-ally to him, "thou art the man"; and then to impose a concrete punishment upon the individual found responsible for the world - terror of the last four years and all the subsequent turmoil that has grown out of the war. But in the opinion of a majority of the committee this cannot be done. This conclusion is based on the fact that war is not a crime within the meaning of international Jaw; that, on the contrary, it is a legaL thing, beqause, in fact, there has been no international ban upon It, such as is now provided in the covenant of the proposed league of nation. No Inventing of Law. The majority of the committee is also opposed to inventing a new law to fit the case, because it is realized that any such proceeding would make Wilhelm a martyr. Another -co neon t ion is thu t 3S war is legal under the' present world code, there is no provision lor passing on the justification justi-fication of it in a legal sense, no matter what historians present and future may say about it, and no matter what the world may think. One recommendation of the committee has been to have him returned lo (Germany (Ger-many to be dealt with by his own people; peo-ple; but America cannot consistently insist in-sist on that before the pea re conference, because the status of W ilhelm in H ol-land ol-land is that of a political refugee and American law provides Hie right of asylum asy-lum for such refugees. Furthermore, nofcody knows what wou'd happen to him if he were forced back into Germany, ft is not considered likely that he would meet fhe fate of the czar of Russia, but beyond assumption assump-tion nobody at the peace conference has any speculation in the matter. r.RXKVA,. March- 11. (By the Associated Asso-ciated Press.) It is reported from Basel that the former German empyror has complained com-plained against bis residence in Holland. It is asserted that he has declared that the climate is disagreeable and that he desires -to go to the Riviera or lo Kgypt -on account of his health, and that he has requested Mathias Krzberger. head of the German armistice commission, to make representations to the allies to this effect. |