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Show iOLlSMPir HI OF SEMSI Nation Net Party to Treaty and Duty Remains to Protect All Within Their Territory ; PARIS, Jan. 2-1 Following is the re ft Pb of The Netherlands government to R ihc entente; I "By verbal note, dated January 15, I 1020, given to the envoy of the queen at Paris, the powers, referring to arti-1 arti-1 clc 227 of the treaty of Versailles, de-i de-i maud that the government of Holland s;ve into their hands William of ITo- henzollern, former emperor of Ger-1 Ger-1 many, so that he may bo tried. I ".Supporting this demand they ob sene that if the former emperor had I rema'nrd fn Germany (he Gorman I goxrrnmnt would, under the terms of I I ardcle 228 of the treaty of peace, have! been obiigeri to deliver him. "'In citing as premeditated violations of international treaties as well as ya 1 systematic disregard of the most sa cretf rules of the rights of man, a num-i num-i her of acts committed during the war by German authority, the powers place the responsibility, al least morally, I upon the former emperor. ' They express the opinion that Hoi- 1 land would not fulfill her international 1 duty if she refused to associate her-I her-I sell with them within the limit or her j ability to pursue, or at least not to impede, im-pede, the punishment of crimes committed. com-mitted. "They emphasize the special charac ter of their demands, which contemplate contem-plate not a juridlcial accusation but an act of high international policy and th."7 make an appeal to Holland's respect re-spect of law and love of justice not to cover her moral authority violation by Germany of the essential principles of the solidarity of the nations, Holland Not Bound by Treaty. "The queen has the honor to observe, ob-serve, first, that obligations which for Germany, could have resulted from article ar-ticle 22S of the treaty of peace, cannot serve to determine the duty of Holland, Hol-land, which is not a party to the treaty. "The government of the queen, moved mov-ed by Imprescriptible reasons, cannot view the question raised by the demands de-mands of the powers except from the point of view of its own duty. It was absolutely unconnected with the origin ori-gin of the war and has maintained, and not without difficulty, its neutrality neutral-ity to the end. It finds itself then face to fare wjth facts of the war in a position different from that of the powers. "It rejects with energy, all suspicion of wishing to cover with its sovereign right and its moral authority, violations viola-tions of the essential principles of the solidarity of nations; but it cannot recognize as international duties tc associate as-sociate itself with this act of high international in-ternational policy of the powers. International Court Needed. "If in the future there should be Instituted In-stituted by the Society of Nations, nn international jurisdiction competent to judge in case of war needs qualified as crimes and submitted to its jurisdiction jurisdic-tion by statute ante-dating the acts committed, it would be fit for Holland to associate herself with the new regime. reg-ime. "The government of the queen cannot can-not admit in the present case .any other duty than that imposed upon It by tho laws of lbs kingdom and national na-tional tradition. "Now, ueither the constituent laws of the kingdom, which arc based upon I the principles of law universally rec-jognized, rec-jognized, nor a respectable secular tra-dition tra-dition which has made this country al-i al-i ways a ground or refuge for tho vanquished van-quished in international conflicts, pcr-'init pcr-'init the government of Holland to de-I de-I rer to the desire or the powers by with-'drawing with-'drawing from Iho former emperor the benefit of its laws and this tradition. Justice and National Honor Sacred. "Justice and national honor, of which respect Is a sacred duty, oppose this The Netherlands people, moved by the sentiments to which in history the world has done justice, could not I betray the faith of those who havo j I confided themselves to their free in-Jstltutions. in-Jstltutions. ! "The government of the queen is be-flieved be-flieved to believe that the powers will recognize the good grounds of these considerations, which rlso above any consideration of personalities and which seem to it so peremptory that they could nol reasonably give rise to wrong interpretations." oo Many a man who is capable of wiving wiv-ing ;.-ood advice Is not capable of oarn-iing oarn-iing bis salt. |