334     THE PARIS PEACE CONFERENCE, 1919, VOLUME V


them, but he was not willing to admit the right of the Japanese
Government to exercise supervision over the police force.
MR. LLoYD GEORGE read the note of September 24th, 1918, and said
he could not find those rights. It did not say that the Japanese
would have supervision of the police force. It merely said that
they were to be employed at the headquarters of the police, on the
principal railway stations and at the police training school. It did
not even mention instructors.
VISCOUNT CHINDA said that the right of having instructors em-
ployed was the Japanese interpretation of the clause.
MR. LLOYD GEORGE said that there was nothing in these clauses
which could bear the interpretation of putting the Japanese in the
position of repudiating the treaty. It merely said that Japanese
were to be employed. He again suggested that there would be no
departure from the terms of the treaty if the Japanese said that
the Japanese chosen would be selected by the directors of the railway.
He had no doubt that in fact the directors would have to apply to
the Japanese Government. There would not be many suitable people
in China and the Japanese Government would be the only source
from which they could be obtained.
PRESIDENT WILSON said that the point was that in the treaty with
Germany, we should impose the transfer of the German rights to
Japan. His interpretation of the Chino-Japanese agreement was
that in handing it back to China Japan would, in fact, extend her
rights beyond those exercised by the Germans. The Japanese de-
manded that these rights should be transfer[red] with this ex-
tension.
MR. LLOYD GEORGE said that the only extension was in respect of
police. He asked if the instructors of the police had not, in fact,
been Germans?
VISCOUNT CHINDA said that they had been termed advisers, but
had undertaken the whole of the management. He considered that
Japan was asking for less than this.
PRESIDENT WILSON said that Germany had not had any such right,
although she had exercised it.
MR. LLOYD GEORGE asked Viscount Chinda to consider his proposi-
tion for leaving it to the directors to control the police.
(There was a considerable adjournment, during whieh Viscount
Chinda conferred with his colleagues.)
After some further discussion, MR. BALFOuR made certain pro-
posals, which, in the course of the discussion were slightly amended,
and eventually reached the following form.-
1. The declared policy of Japan is to hand back to China in full
sovereignty the Shantung Peninsula and to retain only the economic
privileges possessed by Germany.