DIVIDED OPINION

Evening Post, Issue 77, 31 March 1936, Page 10

DIVIDED OPINION

THE STAFF TALKS

BRITISH CABINET POSITION

UNEASY FEELING-

United I'iess Association—By Electric Telt-

crapli—Copyright. (Received March 31, 2.20 p.m.)

LONDON, March 30,

Bolh ihe "Daily Mail" and the "News-Chronicle" assert that the discussion of the Franco-British staff conversations is dividing Cabinet.

The Home Secretary, Sir John Simon, the Minister of Labour, Mr. Erndst Brown, and the Secretary of State for Scotland, Sir Godfrey Collins, are opposed to the conversations owing to the probability of their increasing British commitments. The attitude of the President of the Board of Trade, Mr. Runciman, is doubtful, while the Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, is the leading Conservative opponent of further liabilities.

Many members of the House of Commons are being deluged with letters from constituents opposing an alliance with France, and similarly there is an uneasy section in Cabinet which favours a postponement pending the French elections, enabling successful negotiations with Germany, which otherwise, they believe, would be prejudiced. The "Daily Mail's" political writer says that Mr. Baldwin is seeking a compromise, and has delayed a decision regarding the scope and date of the conversations pending a full Cabinet discussion. It is also stated that he is prepared to submit further steps to Parliament. The Foreign Office has informed the French Ambassador, M. Corbin, that in view of British public opinion it would be essential strictly to define the limit of the talks, while Britain reserved the right to judge what constituted aggression.