WORLD PEACE

Greymouth Evening Star, 1 September 1927, Page 5

WORLD PEACE

M. BRIAND’S SPEECH.

(Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.)

PARIS, August 30. Sir Austen Chamberlain has arrived in Paris, en route for Geneva. On arrival he had a chat with M. Briand regarding the League of Nations’ Council programme for the meeting, in which connection, as usual, they reported complete agreement. M. Briand, in the evening, gave a speech at a banquet to the Inter-Parlia-mentary Union. Unusually for him, he spoke from a manuscript. He said: “I do not hesitate to proclaim that the German statesman showed great courage and a real spirit of peace when they consented to the Locarno Treaty. They are entitled to expect that we will continue that great work in solidarity with all the signatories. Moreover, all the nations ought to be permeated with the idea that a frontier that is settled by an international convention is something sacred, and must be respected, without reservation. It is high time to realise that peace for the civilised world is not a luxury but a vital necessity. The cause of peace is harder to serve than the cause of war. It comprises thankless duties and more obscure tasks, and it calls for deeds less glorious." .Reports from Berlin show that the speech of M. Briand made cold reading in Germany, and that Herr Stresemann and the German delegation to the League depatred from Berlin in an atmosphere of pessimism for Geneva.

ANGLO-FRENCH COMMENT.

(A.P.A. & Sun.)

PARIS, August 31.

A glittering ceremony marked the presentation of the Gift Book containing addresses of gratitude from the French Nation to Britain, at the Hotel de Ville. The gilded saloons were filled with a galaxy of notable people. The President of the Municipal Council and the Prefect of Seine made eloquent Entente cordial speeches. Sir Austen Chamberlain in accepting the gift, re-affirmed his affection for France, and the conviction that a Franco-British Union was necessary for the peace of the world.