NO INTERFERENCE

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 138, 6 March 1936, Page 11

NO INTERFERENCE

Australia and Japanese Whaling (Received March 5,11.25 p.m.) Canberra, March 5. The Minister for External Affairs, Sir George Pearce, stated that Australia had not interfered with the operations of Japanese whaling companies in the Antarctic. He added that Japan had twice been invited to join the Antarctic whaling convention, but had not done so. A cable dated March 3 stated that the Tokio daily paper “Yomiuri” had printed a remarkable story that Australia, under British pressure, bad unilaterally declared Antarctic whaling waters within Australian territorial waters, because British and British-con-trolled’ Norwegian whaling interests were alarmed by increasing competition from a Japanese company which was preparing to appeal to the Foreign Office to protect its rights under the freedom of the seas. t , A Foreign Office spokesman later stated that the Foreign Office had not received any report on the reported Australian whaling measures, nor had representations been made by a Japanese whaling company. INVITATION DENIED (Received March 5, 11.25 p.m.) Tokio, March 5. A Foreign Office spokesman says that Japan was not invited to join the whaling conventions.