President Wilson desired that the Pacific Islands should be internationalised under the League of Nations, with Great Britain as the mandatory Power charged by the league with administration and control.
Great Britain and Japan wish the line of the equator to divide the sphere of influence, Australia and New Zealand annexing the islands southward and Japan those northwards of the equator.
Great Britain claims that Mr Fisher's Government in 1915 accepted this solution. It appears that Mr Hughes does not agree to this plan.
An urgent question is whether Australasia would prefer America as the mandatory Power for all German possessions in the Pacific, or Britain, or a solution by accepting the equator as marking the terminus of the southward descent of the Japanese.
Perhaps it is still possible to secure mandatory control over the Marshalls and Carolines for Britain, provided Japan received territorial compensation elsewhere.
Welcome home at Middlemarch
A most enthusiastic reception was given to Sergeant D. Cockerell, Privates Kennedy, Finlayson, Thomson, and Pedofsky by the Middlemarch residents on Friday night last.
The president, Mr A. M'Kinnon, the Rev. Mr Bloomfield, and Adjutant Wilson, on behalf of the Strath-Taieri residents, warmly welcomed the soldiers home, thanking them for what they had done for their country, and wishing them long life and happiness in peaceful times.
It also gave them great pleasure to welcome to the district Mrs Pedofsky, who had come from England to settle with her husband in New Zealand.
Mrs A. M'Kinnon then presented each of the returned men with a handsome gold medal as a token of appreciation from Strath-Taieri residents, and on behalf of the women of the district spoke words of welcome. Each of the recipients returned thanks in a short speech, but declared it easier to face the cannon's mouth than to face an audience.
Cheers were given for them and their parents. Mrs. W. E. Elliott, Misses V. Balk (Dunedin), Renwick, Deaker, M'Leod, Bowie, Eagan, and Messrs L. Bayley, Horn, and Deaker contributed to a most entertaining programme.
A sumptuous supper followed, and the ladies are to be complimented for the splendid way this was carried out. An enjoyable dance followed, the music being supplied by Mr and Mrs Pacey, Mr and Miss Deaker, and Mr Williams (Dunedin).
Flu volunteers thanked
At the meeting of the Otago Hospital and Charitable Aid Board last evening, the chairman submitted a resolution conveying the thanks of the board to all ladies and gentlemen who had given their services in the fight against the recent influenza epidemic.
The motion also expressed sympathy with the relatives of those nurses and V.A.D. workers who had contracted the disease and fallen in the fight, thus practically giving their lives for others.
The motion was adopted, and it was resolved that an engrossed copy of it, signed by the members of the board, be presented to every voluntary worker who was recommended to receive it by officers in charge of the various bureaus and institutions, and also to the relatives of nurses and V.A.D. workers who died from the epidemic.
- ODT, 24.1.1919.
COPIES OF PICTURE AVAILABLE FROM ODT FRONT OFFICE, LOWER STUART ST, OR WWW.OTAGOIMAGES.CO.NZ
