HC Deb 14 December 1922 vol 159 c3187W
Mr. A. HERBERT

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Government of Czechoslovakia has given notice of its intention to confiscate the estates of 37 landowners, of whom 32 are German Czecks, two Poles, and one Czeck, and to dismiss the German-speaking workmen connected with these estates; and, if such action is in violation of the rights minority Clauses of the Treaty of St. Germain, what action does the British Government intend to take in the matter?

Mr. McNEILL

I am aware that the Czecho-Slovak Government is empowered by law to alienate landed estates in Czecho-Slovakia which exceed a certain fixed acreage, and that this law is being enforced in certain cases. I have no exact statistics on the subject. The law in question exercises no discrimination against landowners of any particular nationality, and consequently there is nothing in the law itself that violates the Treaty rights of minorities.