CZECH GOLD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 127, 1 June 1939, Page 11

CZECH GOLD.

Transfer Technical Matter,

Not Political.

QUESTION OF LEGALITY. (Received 11 a.m.) BASLE, May 31. Dr. Beyen, president of the Bank of International Settlements, interviewed, said that it was regrettable that the transfer of Czech gold had become a political issue. It was purely a technical matter. No pressure was exercised from any quarter.

Neither the British Government nor the Bank of England could prevent the Bank of International Settlements using the gold deposited in London. However much it was desired, the bank was not bound by Swiss law to examine the legitimacy of orders from the National Bank of Czechoslovakia.

SPLIT AVOIDED.

FRENCH SOCIALIST CONGRESS. (Received 10 a.m.) PARIS, May 31. The Socialist party conference at Nantes concluded with a compromise resolution supporting M. Daladier's foreign and rearmament policies, but demanding modification of the Government's financial and social policies. It reaffirmed support of the Popular Front.

The congress confirmed M. Leon Blum's leadership, avoiding a threatened serious split. A resolution affirmed the people's determination to maintain the French Empire's territorial integrity and the revised foreign policy between Britain and France.

GAOL SENTENCE.

FELONIOUS INTENTION.

(Received 11.30 a.m.)

LONDON; May 31

Thomas Edward Guerin (Eddie Guerin), aged 77, the first man to escape from Devil's Island, was sentenced to one month's imprisonment in the second division for frequenting Epsom Downs with the intention of committing a felony.

FLOOD WARNINGS.

DANGER IN VICTORIA.

MELBOURNE, May 31

Following a heavy fog which blanketed the city and south-east Victoria this morning, heavy rain set in, continuing throughout the day and this evening. Flood warnings were issued.

So heavy was the fog that the Civil Aviation Department closed Essendon Aerodrome until 10 a.m. All early suburban trains were late. Cars used their headlights. As the fog lifted, the rain began.

With a sharply-falling barometer, the rain is expected to continue, spreading all over the State. Rain is at present not generally needed in the country, and it may even do harm in some parts by preventing the sowing of crops.