TO BE QUIETLY DROPPED

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 292, 10 September 1928, Page 11

TO BE QUIETLY DROPPED

ANGLO-FRENCH NAVAL AGREEMENT, MAIN REASONS FOR DECISION .CHANGES IN BRITISH PUBLIC OPINION According to the diplomatic correspondents of two London newspapers, the proposed AngloFrench naval agreement is to be quietly dropped. The main reason for the decision, it is stated, is not only the resistance to be expected from the United States and Italian Govern- > ments, but the feeling of distrust aroused in the minds of German and Italian peoples. (Australian Press Assn.—United Service.) (Rec. September 9, 5.5 p.m.) London. September 8. It has been decided in Loudon and Paris to drop quietly the Anglo-French Naval Agreement which excited such a storm of controversy, according to the diplomatic correspondents of the “Daily Telegraph” and the “Daily Herald.” The former is of the opinion that the agreement will not be submitted to the Preparatory Disarmament Commission and every effort will be made to avoid publication of the text. The main reason for the abandonment is a belated realisation not only of the resistance the agreement will encounter from the United States -and the Italian Governments, but the feelings of resentment and distrust aroused in the minds of the Gerjnan and Italian peoples. Even France realises that hopes of an eventual readjustment of the American war debt would be finally doomed. It remains a question when some sort of co-ordination between London and Paris with reference to defence programms will survive. Paris has not realised the marked changes in British public opinion since the war. These arc such as to remove from practical politics tiny informal agreements in the issues of peace and war between Britain and foreign governments. It may be that a few British officials of the'older school of diplomacy also have not altogether grpsped the change.

COOK 81-CENTENARY <s> ■ ■— CELEBRATIONS AT HIS BIRTHPLACE AN OLD-WORLD ATMOSPHERE (Australian Press Assn.—United Service., (Rec September 9, 5.5 p.m.) London, September 8. The peaceful little Yorkshire village of Avrton. with its quaint pavements still 'almost the same as when for eight years James Cook went there to school nearly two hundred years ago. is busily preparing to celebrate the explorer’s' bi-centenary. One of the greatest changes in the district is Cook’s monument on a hillside dominating the village, of which the villagers are greatly proud. The celebrations will begin tills afternoon. when seamen belonging to the destroyer Vidette, which has already arrived. a military band, territorials. Boy Scouts. Girl Guides and members of the mercantile marine and many cottagers will pmticipate in processions to the scenes of Cook’s childhood. Later Sir George Fuller (representing the Commonwealth), Sir James Parr and other visiting "Australians and New Zealanders, including many'' tourists. with local officials, will motor to the old church and the Cook family’s burial place, thence to Stewart Park Marton, where speeches will be delivered within a hundred yards of Cook’s birthplace. ENGLAND’S GREATEST EXPLORER” -. London, September 7. .Speaking in connection with the Cook bi-centenary celebration, to be held on September 15. Sir James Parr said the world respects Cook not only for his greatness and his achievements, but because above all he was a gallant English gentleman. Not only was he England’s greatest and most intrepid explorer, but he gave the world a diary which is entrancing literature. Sir Janies epitomised Cook’s characteristics of straightforwardness, indomitable coiirage, truth, and humanity.