REPARATIONS AGREEMENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 February 1932, Page 5

REPARATIONS AGREEMENT

CONFERENCE IN JUNE BIG RESULTS EXPECTED [by CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] RUGBY, February 13. The following was issued by the Foreign Office, to-day: — “As a consequence of the adjournment of the conference of Lausanne, which had been planned for last January, the Governments of the United Kingdom and France have been engaged in a discussion of the conditions in which the conference might meet. As the result of the exchange of views, a basis of agreement was reached between the two Governments. Sir John Simon, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs was requested to communicate with the Governments principally interested, and it is now possible to make the following announcement. The Governments of Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom, after having taken note of the Basle experts’ report, agreed to recommend to the other Governments concerned an adjournment of the Lausanne Conference to the month of June... The object of the conference will be to .agree on a. lasting settlement of the question raised in the report of the Basle experts, and on those necessary to solve other economic and financial difficulties, which are responsible for and may prolong the present world wide crisis. This decision has .been reached by the above Governments in the hope that it will ease the international situation.”

LONDON PRESS FORECASTS LONDON, February 12. The “Times” Paris correspondent says: “The draft of an agreement regarding the reparations and the war debts between France and Britain has been completed, the concluding stage being reached after Premier Laval and the British Ambassador (Lord Tyrrell) has a conference lasting for two hours. The exact text of the agreement will not be published until after Sir John Simon approves of the |draft, but it is believed that the two Governments now agree to pursue a joint course of action for a final settlement of the reparation and war debt problems. It is also believed that there will be a conference at Lausanne on the matter in June.

The “Daily Herald’s” Geneva correspondent states: Behind the announcement of a Reparations Confer - ence being held in June, there lies a definite plan for an armament settle--1 ment. It is believed' that the word j “reparations” is so hateful that the Germans have abolished it. The Conditional Payments are being abandoned in view of Germany’s inability to pay them. The unconditional payments are being reduced and made variable yearly, according to the “prosperity index.” Compared with the present thirty millions sterling per year of unconditional reparations, the new starting point might be between 10 and 20 millions a year. The proposals are now being submitted to the other Powers.