CONFERENCE TO ADJOURN

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20989, 18 October 1933, Page 9

CONFERENCE TO ADJOURN

j REPLY TO GERMANY | REASONS NOT ACCEPTED AS i VALID j (Received October 17, 8.20 p.m.) RUGBY, October 1(3. The Disarmament Conference to- ! day decided on a 10-day adjourn- | .nent. The bureau of the conference will meet again on October 25 and the general commission next day. Before adjourning the ! delegates adopted the text of the reply to Germany's notification. The reply dispatched by Mr Arthur Henderson, president, to Freiherr von Neurath, German Foreign Minister, reads as follow;' 'T have now communicated to the general commission your Excellency's telegram of October 14, announcing the decision of the German Government to discontinue participation in the work of the conference for the reduction and limitation of armaments, and indie ing the reasons for that decision. The German Government took its step at a moment when thu bureau had just decided to submit to the general commission a definite programme. This programme, to be completed within a "limited iwnncl. provided for the realisation progressively, in accordance with the resolution of the conference in which Germany herself concurred, of the reduction of armaments comparable with those contemplated in the convention submitted to the general conference. This programme provided also for corresponding measures of security and for the realisation of that equality of right which the German Gov- j ernment has always placed in the i forefront of its demands. I regret; the grave decision which has been ; taken by your government for reasons which I am unable to accept as valid."

The representatives of Hungary, Soviet Russia, Poland, and Turkey were the only delegates who refrained from voting approval of the text, the Hungarian representative because he said his country, according to the Treaty of Versailles, was in a special position and had to consider the disarmament problem from a different angle from other countries, the Russian, Polish, and Turkish representatives because they had not participated in the negotiations referred to in the repb'. The Italian and Hungarian delegates objected to a strong reply to Freiherr von Neurath, drafted at yesterday's private meeting of the conference, and Hungary even threatened to withdraw from the conference if it were not revised.

APPROVAL OF

DECISION

PROBLEM OF COURSE TO FOLLOW (Received October 17, 8.40 p.mj LONDON, October 17. "The Times" endorses the adjournment of the Disarmament Conference as affording a breathing space. It says all govu-nmeim; other than Germany will be determined to handle the situation calmly, with a view to the maintenance of peace by progressive substantial disarmament.

The most hopeful feature is the world's almost complete unanimity against Germany, which is the bes' guarantee of practical co-operation. The immediate rjroblem is what collective action can convince Germany of the seriousness of her blunder. STRUGGLE MUST GO ON MR HENDERSON'S VIEW WORLD PLEDGED TO PLACE SYSTEM GENEVA. October 16. '•The struggle for disarmament must proceed. The covenant of the league must not be treated as a scrap of paper," said Mr Arthur Henderson, replying to a deputation from last night's international demonstration. "However just its cause and good its intentions, no Government can be trusted to i-emain loyal to peace if it flouts the collective peace system to which the world is now pledged," he said. "As 10r.;,' as =>ach nation remains the judge vl its own rights and is free to arm as it pleases war is inevitable. "The Versailles Treaty was no worse and no better than previous settlements, but is typical of what happens when war is employed to redress grievances. The gravity of the present situation does not lessen the necessity for a disarmament convention."

PROPOSAL DROPPED SUGGESTED CONVENTION NOT TO BE SUBMITTED LONDON, October 17. As anticipated, the proposal to submit to the conference the fourpower resolution embodying no rearmameru, disarmament by stages, and control, as a basis for future discussions, was dropped because it barred the door against Germany. Mr Arthur Henderson, broadcasting, emphasised that every government's dutv was to uphold the League covenant and the Paris Pact, enabling disarmament and securing pe?ee. "We cannot allow international anarchists to undermine law and order," he declared.

NAZI POLICY CONDEMNED IN MOSCOW THREAT TO PFACE SEEN IN MOVE LONDON, October 17. The Moscow correspondent of the "Manchester Guardian" states that the press interprets Germany's breach with the league and the Disarmament Conference as a most serious threat to peace. There is no sympathy will., the German policy.