§ 90. Mr. Lipsonasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs if he is now able to give an assurance that the ownership of the Ruhr industries will be determined at the Peace Conference and not before.
§ Mr. MayhewIt is clear that every aspect of the security problem in relation to Germany will be a proper subject for discussion at the Peace Conference. It will be open to any Government present at the Conference to propose that administrative measures taken or permitted in any zone of occupation prior to the peace settlement should be modified or revised. I cannot however give any assurance in terms which might give the misleading impression that, at the Peace Conference, His Majesty's Government might be prepared to adopt an attitude on the question of ownership of the Ruhr industries different from that which is implicit in the preamble of the Trusteeship Law—namely, that the question is one for decision by a freely elected democratic German Government.