FRANK TALK WITH FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 105, 29 January 1924, Page 7

FRANK TALK WITH FRANCE

BRITISH PRIME MINISTER INTERVIEWED *■ , » FRENCH POLICY] CRITICISED . ' ••■ —-acil SMALLER NATIONS ENCOURAGED TO INCREASE ARMAMENTS Interviewed by a Paris paper Mr. MacDonald gave ,as the principal reasons for the irritation felt by English people against France, the occupation of the Ruhr, lack of sufficient consideration for the general interests of Europe or the particular interests of Britain, and the giving o ■ moral and financial encouragement to the smaller nations in the matter of armaments, which tended inevitably to lead to another war,

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(Rec. January 28, 8.15 p.m.) London, January 27. London newspapers feature reproductions of parts of the “Quotidien’s” interview with Mr. MacDonald, describing it as the Prime Minister’s frank talk with France. Replying to the interviewer’s inquiry for the reasons for the widely prevalent irritation felt by English people against France, Mr. MacDonald said the British people reproached France first with the occupation of the Ruhr, which they believed to be the principal cause of Britain’s economic distress, and with not having enough consideration for the general interests of Europe or the particular interests of Britain, and with giving moral and financial encouragement to the smaller nations in the matter of armaments, which tended inevitably to lead to another war. Mr. MacDonald did not. wish to emphasise the British business men’s anxiety regarding the prospects ol French industrial combinations or the . wide scope for the people’s fears aris- ‘ ing out of the extent of French aerial armaments, but the British people were alaflhed and beginning to ask whether alliances should .be sought elsewhere, though Labourites did not believe armaments and alliances made for security. Mr. MacDonald, in concluding, referred to the newspaper trusts which hadrecently sprung up in Britain, Germany, France, and America. Before long these doubtless .would tend, to work internationally. He believed that some measures ought to be taken to make it impossible, to poison public opinion. News agencies ought not .to be able to circulate falsified news intended to create opinion. The Govern- ( ments eventually must act to preserve the Press from corruption or control by oligarchies. The references to the Press are specially significant. The. “Quotidien” is Paris’s first co-operatively owned nonparty newspaper, with the motto: “Founded by forty thousand Frenchmen and women to defend and perfect republican institutions.” It was only established in 1922 in the teeth of big dailies, which attempted to boycott it. It now has a circulation of two millions weekly.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. THE TWO PEOPLES FRIENDLY AT HEART BRITISH GOVERNMENT’S AIMS (Rec. January 28, 7.15 p.m.) Paris, January 27. Interviewed by the newspaper “Quotidien,” an organ of the Left bloe, Mr. MacDonald declared that British public opinion was uneasy in regard to French policv. The two peoples at heart were most friendly. The dangerous clouds to-day were due to irisunderstandings, which frank, sympathetic! explanations would clear, up. The reparation® expert committees would not be able to find a satisfactory solution within the narrow limits laid down. The question of France’s debt to Britain could not be broached without discussing the whole European situation, and similarly in regard to the Anglo-French guarantee pact. Socialists did not believe the safety of the nation should depend on armaments or alliances. The British Government would work for the admission of Germany and Russia to the League of Nations. Germany’s entry into the League would be the Lest guarantee of safety for France. An entirely now international policy ought to bo inaugurated, and the prejudices and tricks of the old diplomacy abandoned. Mr. MacDonald refused to believe that they would fail to establish a friendly entente with Franco. He was relying on the good sense and peaceful intenttions of the French rpeonle, who would support the -policy of Labour in delivering Europe from hatreds and fears. Labour would favour the accession to power of German Democrats, who are certainly and sincenaily pacifist and disposed to pay reparations. ■ The separatist movement was spontaneous. It did not concern Britain, but the Labour Government would not recognise any Separatist Government- en-. gineered by a foreign. Power.—Reuter. ANOTHER VERSION “BRITAIN CONSIDERING A NEW ALLIANCE” (Reo. January 28, 7.15 p.m.) Paris, January 27. Mr. MacDonald, interviewed by the "Quotidien,” said Britain’s criticism of France was directed against the occupation of the Ruhr on the ground that it was causing economic distress in Britain and against French financiers encouraging the smaller nations to increase their armaments. Britain was considering whether she should/ not make military preparations and seek a new alliance. The British pubndZwas alarmed at France’s great aerial armaments. —Sydney “Sun” Cbles.

LABOUR PARTY’S AVERSION TO ALLIANCES WORLD DISARMAMENT DEMANDED REVISION OF PEACE TREATIES London, January 27. The “Morning Post’s” Vienna correspondent says that Mr. Philip Snowden in an article in the English supplement to the “Neuo Freie Presse expresses the Labour. Party’s aversion to alliances and policies of equilibrium . and demands a world disarmament based on universal agreement. He says that the party advocates a thorough revision of the Peace Treaties as indispensable to the appeasement and economic reconstruction of Europe, which demands an immediate and generous settlement of reparations and the mutual cancelation of inter-Allied debts. The party has no sympathy with the theories and practices of the Bolsheviks, but favours the unrestricted recognition of the Soviet Government. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. TIME INOPPORTUNE FOR CAPITAL LEVY MR. MACDONALD’S VIEW (Rcc. January 28, 8 p.m.) . London, January 28. The political editor of “Collier’s Weekly,” prior to embarking for. New York, said Mr. MacDonald in an interview had stated that he neither hoped nor intended to try to introduce a capital levy, as the time wag inopportune. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. TAXATION INQUIRIES XRec. January 28, 9.20 p.m.) London, January 27. Mr. Warley, Labour M.P., speaking at Mansfield, said it was claimed that, the country would reject* capital levy, but money must come from somewhere. The Government therefore proposed an inquiry embracing all forms of taxation also an inquiry into the costs of production of every necessary commod-ity.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. POST OFFERED LANSBURY LABOUR MINISTER’S HOUSING PLAN (Rec. January 28, 9.20 p.m.) London, January 27. In a speech in London Mr. George Lansbury intimated that Mr. MacDonald had offered him a Ministerial post, but as it was outside the Cabinet he had decided it was not worth sacrificing his independence for. In a speech at Glasgow the Minister of Health, Mr. Wheatley, .strongly denounced the housing conditions. He did not reveal his* plans, beyond suggesting that the country’s credit must be used to bring unemployed into touch with building materials. He declared • that the Government’s demands for housing would vastly exceed the demands of the late Government. . He was not at all nervous. If the British people supported him in a reasonable scheme he would put the problem on the way to solution. —-Reuter. LABOUR INTERNATIONAL MINISTERS’ RESIGN MEMBERSHIP London, January 27. Messrs. MacDonald, Henderson, Thom as, Webb, Shaw, and Gosling have resigned their membershiD of the Labour International. Mr. MacDonald, like other Premiers, has received threatening letters from writers, mostly regarded as men of unbalanced minds. The police, have arranged for personal protection.— Sydney “Sun” Gable. SINGAPORE BASE VOTE EXPECTED London, January 27. Viscount Chelmsford is considering the Navy Estimates. It is expected that the Singapore base will be allot-

ted £50,000. The full cost will not bo reached before 1926.—Sydney “Sun” Cabfe.

AGRICULTURAL PROBLEMS CONFERENCE BEING SUMMONED London, January 27. The Government is summoning a conference of landowners, farmers, and farm labourers to consider agricultural problems. —Sydney “Sun” Cable. LEAGUE’S LABOUR OFFICE MISS BONDFIELD TO GO .TO GENEVA London, January 27. Miss Margaret Bondfield goes to Geneva as the Government’s representative on the governing body of the League’s International Labour Office. —Aus-N.Z. Cable Assn. EXHIBITION WILL STIMULATE TRADE MR. CLYNES VISITS WEMBLEY London, January 27. Mr. J. R. Clynes inspected the Empire Exhibition at Wembley and expressed the opinion that the exhibits would do more in three months to educate public opinion regarding the ex-tent-of the Empire’s interests than a lifetime by other methods. It was certain to stimulate trade, which was ono of the healthiest ways of developing the friendship and co-operation which the Labour Party believed that the Empire could alone endure. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ON ROAD TO RECOVERY mr. McKenna optimistic London, January 27. The Right Hon. Reginald McKenna, chairman of the London Joint City and Midland Bank, addressing a meeting of that institution, said : “There are indications that we are rearing the end of the most trying period. I am hopeful that we are now on the road to recovery.” He added that he was happy to say that he believed that the labours of the Reparations Committee would be successful, and ha. was hopeful that they would lead *to some change of mentality in dealing with reparations, which was indispensable before permanent peace was achievable. UNIONIST PARTY MEETING FRANK STATEMENT BY MR. BALDWIN London, January 27. The “Daily Telegraph’s” lobbyist says that the Unionist Party, including members of the House of. Commons defeated candidates, and Peers, will meet on February 11. Mr. Baldwin -intends to make a frank statement of his reasons for seeking a dissolution, and the causes of defeat. He will leave the question of future leadership in the party’s hands. It is expected that the meeting will result in a united consolidated Opposition to meet the Government on the ’reassembly of the House cf Commons. There is every reason to believe that tho leaders will rcommend / that tariff reform do not find a place in the party’s immediate programme. ’ It is believed that ardent protectionists will agree with this view.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. “CHURCH TIMES” ON THE SITUATION CAUSE FOR GRATITUDE London, January 27. The ‘Church Times,” discussing the political situation, says that in tie present circumstances, if a coalition had been formed, it would have been dominated by Mr. Lloyd George, who is a facile politician, with no fixed principles; Mr. Winston Churchill, a wayward genius, whose immense selfconfidence unfits him for uncontrolled authority; and Viscount Birkenhead, whose Hectorial address at .Glasgow University sneered at the ideate; which are the very soul of the Christian religion. “Without desiring to minimise the situation, we suggest,’ says the “Church Times,” “that thanks should bo offered to God for saving the country from the Lloyd George-Churchill-Birkenhead combnation. Character in high places was never r.-ore vital than tr-day.”—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.