GENERAL GLOOM

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 145, 1 April 1930, Page 5

GENERAL GLOOM

THE NAVAL CONFERENCE. NOTHING TO LIGHTEN POSITION. HEADS OF DELEGATIONS MEET. (United Press Association—Copyright.) (Received This Day, 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, March 31. Nothing has occurred to lighten’ the general gloom surrounding the' new Conference. The British spokesman merely announced that the beads of delegations had met and adjourned, after deciding to circulate the agenda covering the work of the various committees for further consideration by the heads of delegations on Wednesday.

A FIVE-POWER AGREEMENT. \ BRITAIN’S ONE OBJECTIVE. (Received This Day, 1.50 •LONDON. March. 31. In the House of Commons, Mr MacDonald informed Commander A. Southbv (Conservative) that the Government adhered to its -determination to arrive at a five-power nayal agreement, and not between two or three of them. SECURITY FOR FRANCE. EXPERTS TO EXAMINE PROBLEM LONDON, March 30. Although no meetings between the chief delegaieS' to the Naval Conference have been arranged before Monday, when the heads will again meet, various joints, which the newspapers understand are related to the scope of the Articles 11 and 16 of the Covenant, have been referred by the respective delegations to, their experts for investigation and advice. The main purpose of these examinations is apparently to discover whether it is possible to devise a formula which would provide France with the measure of additional security which she desires, as a prelude to the reduction of her naval tonnage, without involving Great Britain in additional military commitments.

Other instruments besides tlie League Covenant are embraced in their examination, including the Locarno Treaty and the Kellogg iPact, and the experts are the general question, without having before them any specific consideration in the wav of a Mediterranean. Pact. The British Government has always taken the view that no question of' a Mediterranean Pact could be settled at the Conference where several interested Mediterranean Powers are unrepresented. It is suggested that when the plenary session is held next, Friday the American delegation may take the opportunity of clarifying the attitude of the United States toward a consultative pact, about which the Press, at least, seems in some doubt. According to “ The Times,” the “Daily Herald” and other journals, the position at the moment is that the American delegation would not consider participation in a consultative pact until after the European Powers had reached an agreement regarding the Mediterranean problem, and until a five-Power treaty embodying nayal reductions has been signed.—British Official Wireless.