FRANCE AND GERMANY

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLIV, Issue 9879, 28 July 1923, Page 5

FRANCE AND GERMANY

HUNGER IN BERLIN.

POTATOES AND BUTTER SCARCE

MARKS WON’T BUY. (Per Press Association, Copyright.) (Received This Day-, 1.15 p.m.) BERLIN, July 27. : Big queues are daily <in evidence out- j side the provision stores waiting to. buy butter and potatoes, which are. veiy scarce, owing to the impossibilityj of dealers buying .goods abroad Inview of the collapse of the mark. Authorities regard the situation as sort-' ous. -A special meeting of the towncouncil declared that unless the Gov-f eminent intervened a storm would) break out. J

TLhtr Municipality sent a deputation to the Premier, Dr. Cuno, to demand IftlKte remedial measures be taken.

FRENCH REPLY READY.

DUE IN LONDON TO-MORROW.

(Received 'This Day, 1.50 p.m.) PARIS, July 27.. M. Poincare, Premier, finished the

foext of France’s reply to Britain’s suggestions, and has despatched a copy to ©russels. The reply will be delivered dn London on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

MARK {CAUSES ANXIETY.

STILL WORTH COUNTERFEITING.

(Received "This Day, 1.50 p.m.) BERLIN, July 27

In view of ibe continued depreciation of the mark, the Reichstag will hold an extraordinary session on Aug--.ttst 7 th.

The police discovered a gang of .counterfeiters .in Auguslurg circulating spurious notes amounting to 120 million marks.

THE ABSORBING TOPIC

TREND OF DISCUSSIONS. WILL IT BE PEACE P LONDON, July 26. British interest is focussed on the conference on tli.e Continent concerning reparations and the Ruhr. The French and Belgian replies to the British documents are expected at the beginning of the week, and it is earnestly hoped that the Prime Minister, Mr Baldwin, will have something definite to announce in the Ruhr debate in the House of Commons, which has been fixed for Tuesday. Meanwhile, the internal situation in Germany is attracting the most serious attention here and on the Conti-

nent. . S. Poincare had conferences m Paris with the Belgian and Italian Ambassadors, a semi-official Note from the Italian Government having been previously received at the Quai d’Orsay, which, it is understood, asks for cancellation of our inter-Allied debts. M.

Poincare departs to-day for a few days’ rest at his country seat- fiom which fact the conclusion is drawn that the French reply to Britain must have been advanced to a satisfactory stage. It is expected that when M. Poincare returns to Paris he will have a conference with Lord Curzon, who is going to 'Bagnolles. It is repeated that France and Belgium will reply separately, but on similar lines, both declaring that they cannot consider the Grnian proposals until passive resistance in the Kuhr ceases. It was Belgium who insisted on replying in her own way, for the purpose of avoiding the impression that she was under the tutilege c

France. The Quai d’Orsay now applauds this decision, declaring separate replies are * more likely to carry weight with Britain. . Regarding the hint that Britain sounded France concerning the securitv with which she would be satisfied against future possible aggression by Germany, it is learned on reliable authority that France would not agree to negotiate a pact of security with Britain unless it included immediate efficacious assistance in an hour or

In the German Note of May 2, (the later Note of June 5 is the one nowunder discussion) the Berlin Cover " ment said Germany was prepared, as was her intention an proposing the Susie, of a Rhine /pact, to accept any agreement calculated to secuie peace based on reciprocity. “The German Government is pre pared to accept any agreement bmdlmr on both Germany and France to submit all conflicts which cannot he settled in the usual -diplomatic way some kind of peaseful international procedure, that is to say, judicial conflicts to arbitration and all othei con flicts to reconciliation process, after the example of the Bryan agreements The German Government proposesto enter into negotiations on the basis of the above suggestions. .. “The starting point «>f such neg tions must be the restoration of the •status quo ante witlnn the shortest [•possible period. This means that the territories occupied beyond the stipu SmS JSAi to . fl r«ment wteef , thrtT’exiles’are returned to their homes (and posts.”

A CONCERTED REPLY. PARIS. July 26. Conversations have resulted In an m’Srioif *«£ tenor Sti°n Zt rn-M-t - separate replrSITUATION IN GERMANY. TALK OF m'TL WAR, LONDON, July 25. The “ Daily Telegrapri s” Berlin correSoLeut reports that «« the end is everywhere "our,, f nll,ithe newspapers me workof bA p™*m-

proofs of the general nervousness. Many provision umd clothing shops aie shut tlieir windows being guarded, and meat and groceries hidden from view. The “Fascists” and Communists are trying to provoke cone another to strike the first blow. They picture food riots, such as those which occurred m “rosla u, and anticipate that m a general state of panic they will be able, bv a bold coup, to assert a military dictatorship. There is a possibility, however that the Fascists will not wait for the pretext of a Communist rising, but will venture a stroke on their own initiative. Everything depends on the Reichswchr. If the regular army can be depended upon not to take sides, but to stand by the Government, civil war is unlikely.

FRENCH BLOCKADE RAISED. DUSSELDORF, July 26. The frontier between occupied and unoccupied Germany, which was closed as a reprisal for acts of sabotage, has been re-opened. The French, however, will not hesitate to close it again it there is a repetition of the outrages.