Commons Sitting of 11 November 1918

Preamble
The House met at a Quarter before Three of the clock, Mr. SPEAKER in the Chair.
IRISH LAND COMMISSION.
Copy presented of Return of Advances under the Irish Land Purchase Acts for the months of August, September, October, November, and December, 1916 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION FOR IRELAND.
Copy presented of Report of Departmental Committee on the fixing of Charges for scutching Flax and Tow [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE ACT (IRELAND), 1877.
Copy presented of Order in Council, dated 1st November, 1918, giving effect to Rules of Court (Ord. LXIII, Rule 5) [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
Copy presented of Order in Council, dated 1st November, 1918, giving effect to Rules of Court (Ord. LVIII., Rule 25) [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.

COUNTY OFFICERS AND COURTS (IRELAND) ACT, 1877 (RULES).
Copy presented of Rules made by the Lord Chancellor and County Court Judges under the County Officers and Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877 [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
LOCAL BANKRUPTCY (IRELAND) ACT, 1888.
Copy presented of Order in Council, dated 1st November, 1918, increasing Solicitors' Costs by 25 per cent. during the War and for six months thereafter [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
WINTER ASSIZES (IRELAND).
Copy presented of Three Orders in Council, dated the 1st November, 1918, for holding Winter Assizes in Ireland [by Act]; to lie upon the Table.
EAST INDIA (BENGAL DETENUS COMMITTEE).
Copy presented of Report of Sir N. Chandavarkar and Mr. Justice Beachcroft on Detenus and Internees in Bengal [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

MINISTRY OF RECONSTRUCTION.
Copy presented of Report of the Committee appointed by the Ministry of Reconstruction to consider the position of the Building Industry after the War [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
Copy presented of Statement with regard to Advisory Bodies other than Reporting Committees appointed by the Minister of Reconstruction [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.

CHARITABLE DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS (IRELAND).
Copy presented of Seventy-third Report of the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests for Ireland for the year 1917 [by Command]; to lie upon the Table.
ARMISTICE WITH GERMANY.

  PRIME MINISTER'S STATEMENT.
  Immediately after Prayers, the PRIME MINISTER (Mr. Lloyd George) rose, and said: Mr. Speaker, I beg to move, "That this House do now adjourn."
  The Armistice, as has already been announced in the Press, was signed this morning at five o'clock, after a discussion which was prolonged all night. I will read to the House the conditions of the Armistice in so far as they have reached

  2455
  us up to the present. I ought to warn the House, and the public, that we have only received such corrections as were rendered necessary by the new conditions by telephone. I have been correcting them up to the latest moment, and there is a possibility that there may be a few mistakes. But substantially these will represent the conditions which Germany has accepted:—

  CONDITIONS OF AN ARMISTICE WITH GERMANY.

    A.—CLAUSES RELATING TO WESTERN FRONT.
    1. "Cessation of operations by land and in the air, six hours after the signature of the Armistice."
    The Armistice was signed at five o'clock in the morning; the War ceased at eleven o'clock this morning.
    2. "Immediate evacuation of invaded countries—Belgium, France, Alsace-Lorraine, Luxembourg—so ordered as to be completed within fourteen days from the signature of the Armistice."
    There have been certain alterations in the number of days.
    "German troops which have not left the above-mentioned territories within the period fixed will become prisoners of war.
    "Occupation by the Allied and United States Forces jointly will keep pace with evacuation in these areas.
    "All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated in accordance with a Note which has been served upon the German Commander-in-Chief.
    3. "Repatriation, beginning at once, to be completed within fourteen days of all inhabitants of the countries above enumerated (including hostages, persons under trial, or convicted).
    4. "Surrender in good condition by the German Armies of the following equipment:

    5,000 guns (2,500 heavy, 2,500 field);

    30,000 machine-guns;

    3,000 minnenwerfer;

    2,000 aeroplanes (fighters, bombers—firstly D.7's—and night bombing machines);

    The above to be delivered in situ to the Allied and United States troops in accordance with the detailed conditions laid down in the Note.
    5. "Evacuation by the German Armies of the countries on the left bank of the Rhine. These countries on the left bank of the Rhine shall be administered by the local authorities under the control of the Allied and United States Armies of occupation.
    "The occupation of these territories will be carried out by Allied and United States garrisons holding the principal crossings of the Rhine (Mayence, Coblentz, Cologne), together with bridgeheads at these points of a 30 kilometre radius on the right bank, and by garrisons similarly holding the strategic points of the regions.
    "A neutral zone shall be set up on the right bank of the Rhine between the river and a line drawn 10 kilometres distant from the Dutch frontier to the Swiss frontier."
    This is in addition to the bridgeheads, I ought to explain to the House.
    "In the case of inhabitants"—
    Inhabitants of the neutral zone and of the provinces on the left bank of the Rhine—
    "no person shall be prosecuted for having taken part in any military measures previous to the signing of the Armistice.
    "No measure of a general or official character shall be taken which would have as a consequence the depreciation of industrial establishments or a reduction of their personnel.
    "Evacuation by the enemy of the Rhinelands shall be so ordered as to be completed within a further period of 16 days—in all 31 days after the signature of the Armistice.
    "All movements of evacuation and occupation will be regulated according to the Note.
    6. "In all territory evacuated by the enemy there shall be no evacuation of inhabitants; no damage or harm shall be done to the persons or property of the inhabitants.
    "No destruction of any kind to be committed.
    "Military establishments of all kinds shall be delivered intact, as well as military stores of food, munitions, equipment not removed during the period fixed for evacuation. Stores of food of all kinds for the civil population, cattle, etc., shall be left in situ.
    "Industrial establishments shall not be impaired in any way and their personnel shall not be moved.
    7. "Roads and means of communication of every kind, railroads, waterways, main roads, bridges, telegraphs, telephones, shall be in no manner impaired.
    "All civil and military personnel at present employed on them shall remain.
    "5,000 locomotives, 150,000 wagons and 5,000 motor lorries in good working order, with all necessary spare parts and fittings, shall be delivered to the Associated Powers within the period fixed for the evacuation of Belgium and Luxembourg.
    "The railways of Alsace-Lorraine shall be handed over within the same period, together with all pre-war personnel and material.
    "Further, material necessary for the working of railways in the country on the left bank of the Rhine shall be left in situ.
    "All stores of coal and material for upkeep of permanent way, signals, and repair shops, shall be left in situ and kept in an efficient state by Germany as far as the means of communication are concerned during the whole period of the Armistice.
    "All barges taken from the Allies shall be restored to them; the Note appended as Annexure 2 regulates the details of these measures.
    8. "The German Command shall be responsible for revealing all mines or delay action fuses disposed on territory evacuated by the German troops, and shall assist in their discovery and destruction.
    "The German Command shall also reveal all destructive measures that may have been taken (such as poisoning or pollution of springs, wells, etc.), under penalty of reprisals.
    9. "The right of requisition shall be exercised by the Allied and United States Armies in all occupied territory, save for the settlement of accounts with authorised persons.
    "The upkeep of the troops of occupation in the Rhineland (excluding Alsace-Lorraine) shall be charged to the German Government.
    10. "The immediate repatriation without reciprocity according to detailed conditions, which shall be fixed, of all Allied and United States prisoners of war; the Allied Powers and the United States of America shall be able to dispose of these prisoners as they wish. However, the return of German prisoners of war interned in Holland and Switzerland shall continue as heretofore. The return of German prisoners of war shall be settled at the peace preliminaries.
    11. "Sick and wounded who cannot be removed from evacuated territory will be cared for by German personnel who will be left on the spot with the medical material required.

    CLAUSES RELATING TO THE EASTERN FRONTIERS OF GERMANY.
    12. "All German troops at present in any territory which before the War belonged to Russia, Rumania, or Turkey, shall withdraw within the frontiers of Germany, as they existed on 1st August, 1914, and all German troops at present in territories which before the War formed part of Russia must likewise return to within the frontiers of Germany as above defined as soon as the Allies shall think the moment suitable, having regard to the internal situation of those territories.
    13. "Evacuation by German troops to begin at once; and all German instructors, prisoners, and civilian as well as military agents, now on the territory of Russia (as defined on 1st August, 1914) to be recalled.
    14. "German troops to cease at once all requisitions and seizures and any other undertaking with a view to obtaining supplies intended for Germany in Rumania and Russia, as defined on 1st August, 1914.
    15. "Abandonment of the Treaties of Bucharest and Brest-Litovsk and of the Supplementary Treaties.
    16. "The Allies shall have free access to the territories evacuated by the Germans on their Eastern Frontier, either through Danzig, or by the Vistula, in order to convey supplies to the populations of those territories or for the purpose of maintaining order.

    CLAUSE RELATING TO EAST AFRICA.
    17. "Unconditional evacuation of all German forces operating in East Africa, within one month.

    GENERAL CLAUSES.
    18. "Repatriation, without reciprocity, within a maximum period of one month, in accordance with detailed conditions hereafter to be fixed, of all civilians interned or deported who may be citizens of other Allied or Associated States than those mentioned in Clause 3.
    19. "With the reservation that any future claims and demands of the Allies and the United States of America remain unaffected, the following financial conditions are required:
    "Reparation for damage done.
    "While the Armistice lasts, no public securities shall be removed by the enemy which can serve as a pledge to the Allies for the recovery or reparation for war losses.
    "Immediate restitution of the cash deposit in the National Bank of Belgium and, in general, immediate return of all documents, specie, stock, shares, paper money, together with plant for the issue thereof, touching public or private interests in the invaded countries.
    "Restitution of the Russian and Roumanian gold yielded to Germany or taken by that Power.
    "This gold to be delivered in trust to the Allies until the signature of peace.

    NAVAL CONDITIONS.
    20. "Immediate cessation of all hostilities at sea, and definite information to be given as to the location and movements of all German ships.
    "Notification to be given to Neutrals that freedom of navigation in all territorial waters is given to the Naval and Mercantile Marines of the Allied and Associated Powers, all questions of neutrality being waived.
    21. "All Naval and Mercantile Marine prisoners of war of the Allied and Associated Powers in German hands to be returned, without reciprocity.
    22. "Handing over to the Allies and the United States of all submarines (including all submarine cruisers and mine-layers) which are present at the moment with full complement in the ports specified by the Allies and the United States. Those that cannot put to sea to be deprived of crews and supplies and shall remain under the supervision of the Allies and the United States. Submarines ready to put to sea shall be prepared to leave German ports immediately on receipt of wireless order to sail to the port of surrender, the remainder to follow as early as possible. The conditions of this Article shall be carried within fourteen days after the signing of the Armistice."
    That is the surrender of all available submarines.
    23. "The following German surface warships, which shall be designated by the Allies and the United States of America, shall forthwith be disarmed and thereafter interned in neutral ports, or, failing them, Allied ports to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America, and placed under the serveillance of the Allies and the United States of America, only caretakers being left on board, namely:

    Six Battle Cruisers;

    Ten Battleships;

    Eight Light Cruisers, including two Mine-layers;

    Fifty Destroyers of the most modern types.

    "All other surface warships (including river craft) are to be concentrated in German Naval bases to be designated by the Allies and the United States of America, and are to be paid-off and completely disarmed and placed under the supervision of the Allies and the United

    2461
    States of America. All vessels of the Auxiliary Fleet (trawlers, motor vessels, etc.) are to be disarmed. All vessels specified for internment shall be ready to leave German ports seven days after the signing of the Armistice. Directions for the voyage will be given by wireless."
    In consequence of recent events this has had to be added. I have just had it by telephone—
    "A declaration has been signed by us—"
    This comes from Admiral Wemyss—
    "and handed to the German delegates to the effect that in the event of ships not being handed over owing to the mutinous state of the fleet, the Allies reserve the right to occupy Heligoland as an advanced base to enable them to enforce the terms of Armistice. The German delegates have on their part signed a declaration that they will recommend the Chancellor to accept this."
    24. "The Allies and the United States of America shall have the right to sweep up all minefields and obstructions laid by Germany outside German territorial waters, and the positions of these are to be indicated.
    25. "Freedom of access to and from the Baltic to be given to the Naval and Mercantile Marines of the Allied and Associated Powers. To secure this, the Allies and the United States of America shall be empowered to occupy all German forts, fortifications, batteries, and defence works of all kinds in all the entrances from the Cattegat into the Baltic, and to sweep up all mines and obstructions within and without German territorial waters without any questions of neutrality being raised, and the positions of all such mines and obstructions are to be indicated.
    26. "The existing blockade conditions set up by the Allied and Associated Powers are to remain unchanged, and all German merchant ships found at sea are to remain liable to capture The Allies and the United States contemplate the provisioning of Germany during the Armistice as shall be found necessary.
    27. "All naval aircraft are to be concentrated and immobilised in German bases to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America.
    28. "In evacuating the Belgian coasts and ports, Germany shall abandon all merchant ships, tugs, lighters, cranes, and all other harbour materials; all materials for inland navigation; all aircraft, and air materials and stores; all arms and armaments and all stores and apparatus of all kinds.
    29. "All Black Sea ports are to be evacuated by Germany; all Russian warships of all descriptions seized by Germany in the Black Sea are to be handed over to the Allies and the United States of America; all neutral merchant ships seized are to be released; all warlike and other materials of all kinds seized in those ports are to be returned, and German materials as specified in Clause 28 are to be abandoned.
    30. "All merchant ships in German hands belonging to the Allied and Associated Powers are to be restored in ports to be specified by the Allies and the United States of America without reciprocity.
    31. "No destruction of ships or of materials to be permitted before evacuation, surrender, or restoration.
    32. "The German Government shall formally notify the Neutral Governments of the world, and particularly the Governments of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Holland, that all restrictions placed on the trading of their vessels with the Allied and Associated countries, whether by the German Government or by private German interests, and whether in the return for specific concessions such as the export of shipbuilding materials or not, are immediately cancelled.
    33. "No transfers of German merchant shipping of any description to any neutral flag are to take place after signature of the Armistice.

    DURATION OF ARMISTICE.
    34. "The duration of the Armistice is to be thirty-six days with option to extend. During this period, on

    2463
    failure of execution of any of the above Clauses, the Armistice may be denounced by one of the contracting parties on forty-eight hours' previous notice.

    TIME LIMIT FOR REPLY.
    35. "This Armistice to be accepted or refused by Germany within seventy-two hours of notification."
    Those are the conditions of the Armistice. Thus at eleven o'clock this morning came to an end the cruellest and most terrible War that has ever scourged mankind. I hope we may say that thus, this fateful morning, came to an end all wars.
    This is no time for words. Our hearts are too full of a gratitude to which no tongue can give adequate expression. I will, therefore, move "That this House do immediately adjourn, until this time To-morrow, and that we proceed, as a House of Commons, to St. Margaret's, to give humble and reverent thanks for the deliverance of the world from its great peril."
    Mr. ASQUITH: I am sure that the House, without any distinction or difference of opinion, will agree with the Motion that the Prime Minister has made, and that the course which he proposes to adopt is the only one which is consonant with our feelings and with those of the country and the Empire. With regard to the terms of the Armistice as read out I will simply say this: It is clear from it that its acceptance by our enemies means not only that the War is at an end, but that the War cannot be resumed; and I join with a full heart
    2464
    in his aspiration not only that this War may not be resumed, but that now we have entered upon a new chapter in international history, in which war will be recognised as an obsolete anachronism, never to be revived. As the Prime Minister has said, there is nothing that we can do in conditions so unexampled as these than as a House, and on behalf of the nation, to acknowledge our gratitude to Almighty God.
    Question, "That this House do now adjourn," put, and agreed to.
    Mr. SPEAKER: I propose to proceed at once to St. Margaret's, and I will invite the House to follow, very much in the same order in which we proceeded on the 4th August last, namely: I will go first with the Mace; then I invite Privy Councillors to follow in fours, as far as may be, in order of precedence, and then the rest of the House will fall in behind. We will occupy the seats in the Church all down the nave on the South side.
    House adjourned accordingly at Seventeen minutes after Three o'clock, until To-morrow, at a Quarter before Three o'clock.

  SERVICE OF THANKSGIVING.
  Whereupon Mr. SPEAKER and the Members proceeded to the Church of Saint Margaret, Westminster, and, with the House of Lords, attended a Service of Thanksgiving to Almighty God, on the conclusion of the Armistice signed this day.