THE RUSSIAN TREATIES

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XLV, Issue 10179, 9 August 1924, Page 5

THE RUSSIAN TREATIES

KING NOT MENTIONED. LONDON PRESS QUERIES. (Per Press Association —Copyright.) LONDON, August'B. The “Daily Express,” asking, “Has Mr MacDonald dropped the Monarchy in order to please the Soviet.'"’ draws attention to the fact that whereas treaties formerly were made in the name of the King, the Russian Treaty is between “Great Britain and Northern -Ireland” on the one hand, and the- Soviet Socialist Republic on the other. , , This is contrasted with the Austrian agreement, signed on May. 22, between “His Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland, and of the Bntisn Dominions beyond tbe seas, and Emperor of India,” and the Federal President of the Republic of Austria. The “Daily Express” asks: “Yv here is the British Empire in the Russian Treaty?” It recalls a speech by :VL Rakovskv, in 1923, ill widen bn the collapse and dismemberment oi the British Empire was merely a question of time. ■ Finally, the “Express” suggests the amendment of the draft before signature.

THE OMISSION EXPLAINED. KING’S NAME AND TREATY. "NO CORRESPONDING HEADS.” (Received This Day, 1.45 p.m.) LONDON, August 8. The "Evening Standard” states it transpires that the omission of the King’s name from the . Anglo-Soviet Treaty was not due to any desire to placate Bolshevik susceptibility, but was the result of Foreign Office legal inquiries* upon the difficulty aiisi-ig from the fact that there was no formal head of Russia corresponding with the King. Therefore the Treaty could not be properly balanced if the preamble was between the King aim the Union of Russian Soviets, and so the document- was made between the two Governments.

POSITION NOT UNDERSTOOD.

THE "CITY” BEFOGGED. LONDON, August 8. The diplomatic correspondent of th© “Daily Telegraph” describes the Russian Treaty as "How to produce an agreement not really an agreement, because all vital questions are reserved The Treaty no doubt will help Mr MacDonald to save his fa-ce, but it is unworthy of the- name-of treaty. The Citv Editor states that nobody in'the City pretends to understand the agreement. It is universally regarded as a desperate attempt on Mr MacDonald’s 1 part to fulfil his election pledges and placate Ins Communist SU ?C gin»al view is that a loan to the Soviet will be impossible . unless guaranteed by the British Govern • Even then it is not believed that Pailiament would sanction it without a complete change in Soviet principles.