SANCTIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 149, 25 June 1936, Page 10

SANCTIONS.

N.Z. ATTITUDE. PRIME MINISTER EXPLAINS. WAITING FOR CONFERENCE. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. The reason why it was not intended to reyeal the New .Zealand Government's attitude toward the latest developments in the sanctions position were outlined to-day by the Prime Minister,' jthe Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage. His view was that there was a risk that premature announcement would have a prejudicial effect on the minds of the representatives of other nations, and it was preferable to wait until the conference at Geneva before making the Dominion's attitude public. "We have nothing to cover up," said Mr. Savage. "We have supported sanctions from the start and we do not want to create a wrong impression before the conference opens at Geneva. It is better to wait until we meet at the conference and put our views before the representatives of other nations. Some of the nations have already made a statement about what should or should not be done, but in my opinion it might prejudice the minds of other nations before they can get going at all." The ' Prime Minister said that Sir James Parr, the Dominion's representative, had had his instructions for some time and knew the Government's attitude, and his statement would no doubt be published from Geneva. "We do not want to be making enemies before we start the conference," he concluded, "and you may do that by making statements beforehand."