§ Lieut.-Commander KENWORTHYasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether the Council of Ambassadors has now received the report of the military experts declaring the German fortresses to have been destroyed; whether this completes Germany's disarmament in accordance with the Treaty of Versailles; whether the control of German disarmament will now be transferred to the League of Nations; and whether this will accelerate the withdrawal of the armies of occupation from German soil?
Mr. LOCKER-LAMPSONI understand that the Ambassadors' Conference have approved the report of the military experts on the subject of the dismantlement of the fortifications on Germany's eastern frontier, which is of a completely satisfactory nature; but I would remind the hon. and gallant Member that the agreement with the German Government which led to the withdrawal of the Allied Military Commission of Control on the 31st January covered not only the dismantlement of these fortifications but also certain other points in the disarmament of Germany in regard to which the requirements have not yet been fully satisfied. Until these requirements are met, it cannot be said that the disarmament contemplated by the Treaty is complete.
As regards the functions of the League of Nations in this matter, the responsibility for supervising the continued observance of those disarmament Clauses of the Treaty of Versailles which had been fully executed passed to the Council of the League of Nations in virtue of its rights under Article 213 of the Treaty of Versailles, on the withdrawal of the Commission of Control on the 31st of January.
With regard to the fourth part of the question, the occupation of the Rhineland is, under Article 428 of the Treaty of Versailles, a guarantee for the execution of that Treaty, and the evacuation of that area is, in virtue of Articles 429–431 of the Treaty, made conditional 1503W upon the fulfilment by Germany of her Treaty obligations in general and not merely those referring to disarmament.