GENOA CONGRESS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 89, 15 April 1922, Page 7

GENOA CONGRESS.

; FRANCE AND DISARMAMENT. i WILL NOT DISCUSS IT. MATTER FOR THE LEAGUE. (By Cable.—Press Association Copyright.) 11 I'Received 11.30 a.tn.) LON'DOX, April 14. : I A member of the French Cabinet an- ; nounced that if the land disarmament I were discussed at Genoa the French . delegation wa* instructed to refrain , from participation, the Cabinet view being that the matter should be left i to the League of Nations. ficrmeny has integrally accepted the Allies experts' financial proposals at Onoa, but insists that reparations be considered in balancing the national budgets. A prolonged and informal discussion l.lwcen Messrs. Lloyd George, M. Barthou, Theunis. M. Tchitcherin, Lit- ' vinoff and Krassin at Mr. Lloyd lleorge's villa lasted throughout tho day and wars expected to occupy all Saturday. The conversations turn on certain points of the experts' report which the Russians desire elucidated before framing their reply. Therefore it is not likely that the first commission will resume itfi deliberations before Tuesday, i Sir Basil Blacke.tt, Controller of Finance in the British Treasury, called a committee of financial expert* to-day ,to evolve a basis to report to the Conference financial committee on Saturday. — (A. and N.Z. Cable.) STABILISING EXCHANGE. FIXING STANDARDS. PROBLEM OF GERMANY. (Received 12."0 p.m.) GENOA, April 14. The Australian Press Association's Genoa correspondent states that the 'Finance Sub-Committee has made good progress, especially in the question of exchange, on which the tentative draft was prepared to fix the standard of exchange according to the financial position of the various counties requiring assistance. Italy is quite prepared to accept the standard suggested for her, and will balance her Budget accordingly. France objects to having her standard fixed. The committee is unable, at present, to arrive at a basis for Germany, owing to the reparations. There is a suggestion to provide an international loan to enable, her to recoup France for what the latter expended restoring the devastated area, Germany paying the interest annually. If something of this sort were done it would pave the way to fixing German exchange. The Germans and Russians submitted, amendments. flermans are not by any means revolutionary. The French delegates are quite satisfied with them. Dr. Hermes (-explained that it was not sufficient to balance the internal Budget; | they must balance Hie external payments, I which probably included the cost of the i army of occupation, imt not the reparations. The French deduce from I)r Hermes' speech that Germany is agreeable to leave the reparations outside the orbit of (lenoa. The Russian amendments are numerous and mostly neademie. except one, asking for a special loan. Another suggesting I division of the world's gold is regarded as a joke. The French regard Kakowsky'p optimistic financial statement as fanciful j Even the Russian experts estimate the | Kussiaii deficit as eight hundred million gold rotifiles. ! Mr. Lloyd George presided at a meeting of Allied Prime Ministers which discussed the Russian position.— (A. and |N.Z. Cable.)