HITLER REPLY TAKEN BY AIR TO BRITAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 78, 1 April 1936, Page 7

HITLER REPLY TAKEN BY AIR TO BRITAIN.

GERMANY'S DECISION. Answer Believed Brief But Conciliatory. VON RIBBENTROP'S MISSION. United Press Association.—Copyright. (Received 1 p.m.) LONDON, March 31. Herr von Ribbentrop, the German envoy, left Berlin for London by air at 3.45 p.m. to personally hand Herr Hitler's reply to Mr. Anthony Eden. This is believed to be brief and conciliatory. Upon arrival at Croydon Herr von Ribbentrop and his colleagues went straight to their hotel. Berlin semiofficial reports indicate that the proposals were drawn up within the framework of those of March 7, but "of still wider scope and in greater detail." Earlier reports stated that the controlled Press of Germany suggested that the reply would be uncompromising. The Paris correspondent of "The Times" says nobody in the French capital will be surprised if Herr Hitler replies with a blank negative or little more. There is an impression that Herr Hitler is already caught in a process which inevitably will lead to war, from which he cannot draw back. The British Foreign Secretary,. Mr. Eden, has cancelled his holiday in Morocco on which he had planned to start at the end of the week. MINISTER RESIGNS. Lord Eustace Percy Leaves The Cabinet. NO QUARREL ON POLICY. (Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, March 31. Lord Eustace Percy, Minister without Portfolio, has resigned from the Cabinet. He states, in a letter to Mr. Baldwin, "I should make it clear that I am in complete accord with the foreign policy of the Government." He expresses the opinion that Mr. Baldwin did not intend the post to be permanent and feels that it would bo difficult to justify its continuance into a new financial year.

STAFF DISCUSSIONS. Mr. Balthvin Replies to Labour Argument. MINISTER NOT TO ATTEND. (Received 2 p.m.) LONDON, March 31. Declaring that French generals frequently are politically minded, whereas British generals are not concerned with politics, Lieutenant-Commander E. F. Fletcher (Lab., Nuneaton) in the House of Commons suggested that British generals, for that reason, would be at a disadvantage in the proposed conversations between the General Staffs. The speaker urged that the British representatives at the discussions should be accompanied by Sir Thomas Inskip, Minister for the Co-ordination of Defence, or some other Minister. The Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin, in replying in the negative, said the Minister's presence might lend importance to the conference which it would not actually possess and the technical talks might become more serious. Mr. Baldwin said that these technical talks would not result in definite commitments until the Cabinet had considered tliem. The diplomatic correspondent of "The j Times" says that at yesterday's meeting of Ministers they expressed anxiety lest the scope of the talks might be too wide. Accordingly they decided that the delegates would be strictly tied to the precise agenda, which they must not excced, and that even in the exploratory discussions all decisions would rest with the Cabinet. Rumours of a British Cabinet split on the question of General Staff talks are described in most reliable quarters as fantastic.

LEGAL PROTECTION. FUGITIVES FROM GERMANY. (Received 2 p.m.) RUGBY, March 31. The Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Viscount Cranbornc, informed the House of Commons that the British Government would be represented at the conference at Geneva on July -2 convened by the League of Nations to arrange a system of legal protection for refugees coming from Germany.