1. MINUTES OF THE THIRTY - THIRD MEETING, OF THE COMMITTEE ON NEW STATES

1. MINUTES OF THE THIRTY - THIRD MEETING, OF THE COMMITTEE ON NEW STATES

July 15th, 1919

The Treaty with the Serb-Croat-Slovene State was discussed. The Italian proposals for conferring autonomy on Macedonia (Annex (A)) and Albania (Annex (B)) were discussed and a long discussion took place on them. The Italian representative laid stress on the importance of providing the necessary securities for the protection of the inhabitants of Macedonia and in particular the Slavonic population which was not Serbian. Mr. Leeper (1494) suggested that while it was no doubt desirable that some form of self-government should be given to Macedonia by the Serbian Government, it was doubtful whether the obligation to do this should be imposed upon the Serb-Croat-Slovene State, and it would be better at any rate as a first step to enquire what the proposals of the Government for dealing with this district were M. Laroche (1495) again laid stress upon the extreme importance of not undermining the authority of the Government by setting up a State within a State, and strongly urged the desirability of keeping to a minimum interference with the internal institutions of the State. After a discussion on the historical and ethnical problem of Macedonia, it was eventually determined that a letter should be written to the Serb-Croat-Slovene Delegation enclosing a copy of the minority clauses in the Polish Treaty, and explaining that these were an indication of the nature of the general clauses which they would be asked to agree to. It would be pointed out in the letter that there were of course differences in the conditions of the different States and that therefore the Treaties could not be identical in each case. It would not be proposed to include the Jewish clauses in the Serbian Treaty, but on the other hand it might be desirable to include special clauses dealing with other Minorities. The Macedonian and Albanian question should be referred to and the Government be asked for an indication of the manner in which they proposed to deal with these problems. M. Laroche undertook to draft the letter. It was agreed also that a similar letter should be sent to the Greeks (1496)

Annex (A) to thirty-third meeting Draft of Articles for Macedonia

Article

Jugo-Slavia agrees to organize the territory of Macedonia within the frontiers fixed by the Principal Allied and Associated Powers under the form of an autonomous unit within the Jugo-Slav State, provided with the greatest degree of self-government compatible with the unity of the Jugo-Slav State.

Article

The territory of Macedonia shall have an autonomous Diet. This Diet shall exercise the legislative powers in matters of language, education, and religion, and for questions of local administration and all others the competence for which may be assigned to it by the laws of the Jugo-Slav State. The Governor of the said territory of Macedonia shall be named by the Jugo-Slav Government and shall be responsible to the Diet.

Article

Jugo-Slavia agrees that the officials of the territory of Macedonia shall be chosen as far as possible from among the inhabitants of this territory.

Article

Jugo-Slavia guarantees to the territory of Macedonia an equitable representation in the Legislative Assembly of the Jugo-Slav State, to which this territory shall send deputies elected according to the constitution of the Jugo-Slav State. However, the said deputies shall not have the right to vote in the Skupshtina in any legislative matter of the same order as those assigned to the competence of the Diet of Macedonia.

D. H. Miller, My Diary. At the Conference of Paris. With Documents. New York 1924, vol. XIII, pp. 263-265; Recueil des Actes de la Conference. Paris 1922, vol. VII. Commission des Nouveaux Etats. .Paris 1929, pp. 175-178.

(1494) Allen Leeper, head of the Press Office of the British Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference.

(1495) Jules Laroche, delegate in the French Delegation at the Paris Peace Conference and member of the Committee on New States.

(1496) The further text relates to the Rumanian Treaty.

2. MINUTES OF THE THIRTY - NINTH MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE ON NEW STATES

July 30th, 1919

...The Committee then discussed the Macedonian question. (1497) Two proposals were put forward, first a draft which had been prepared by Colonel Castoldi, (1498) by request, making Macedonia an autonomous district on the line similar to those adopted for Ruthenia. (1499)

It was generally agreed that it would not be possible to adopt this. The other was a suggestion made by the British representative that arrangements should be made by which the League of Nations would be authorized to maintain representatives in Macedonia in order to strengthen the guarantees against oppression. As a result of the discussion no definite decision was reached, but it was agreed that the different members of the Committee should, if possible, bring forward some concrete proposals at the next meeting.

D. H. Miller, My Diary, p. 323; Recueil, 215.

(1497) The previous text relates to the discussion on the Austrian Treaty

(1498) Colonel Castoldi, member of the Italian Delegation at the Committee on New States

(1499) The Ukraine was indicated in the Western maps of the 14th to 16th centuries as Ruthenia. Similarly also: Ruthenians (Ukrainians) in the countries of the former monarchy of Austria-Hungary.