Papers and Documents relating to the Foreign Relations of Hungary, Volume 1, 1919–1920 (Budapest, 1939)

Appendix III. Parliamentary debates

965 of reciprocity and since both the Accompanying Letter and the Remarks constitute legal sources, this promise has more or less the same value as if it were incorporated in the treaty. With respect to the legal status of foreign nationals, we received a reassuring interpretation concerning reciprocity, in contrast to the heretofore prevailing unilateral construction. The explanation is that reciprocity could not be expressly guaranteed because the great variety in the legal structure of the Allied and Associated Powers made it impossible to arrive at a uniform point of view and a uniform procedure. In the economic field I must mention one thing which was not conceded to us; it is a very grave matter and one which will have to be remedied. While there appears to be a certain willingness to assist, life itself will force a remedy. We requested that free trade should be maintained for some time at least with the territories about to be detached from Hungary. This was refused on the ground that the Allies would then have to erect customs barriers between the old and new parts of the states surrounding us. (Commotion.) The Allies are apparently convinced of the justification of our request and are even willing to assist in order to restore normal trade ; they will do everything possible in this direction but that cannot be formally expressed in the treaty. As regards our obligation to supply food for Austria, we received a more or less satisfactory answer that there will be reciprocity in this respect also, in that we will receive Austrian industrial products for our foodstuffs. It is also pointed out that the obligation imposed on us will in no way exceed the obligations of the Czecho-Slovaks and the Poles to supply us with coal. The reply note also accepts our observation that the provisions contained in the economic chapter of the treaty do not apply solely to those international arrangements which we made together with Austria, but also to those concluded by Hungary independently. At the very end of the economic chapter, under the subtitle „Special provisions relating to transferred territory", there is a significant alteration in Article 250. This article provides that the property of Hungarian nationals in the detached territories shall not be subject to any exceptional measures and shall be returned to them in condition in which they were prior to any such exceptional measures. In compliance with our request, a third paragraph was added to this Article providing that complaints of Hungarian nationals relative to such properties will be submitted to mixed arbitral tribunals. With respect to Article 256 which provides that the division of property of public bodies