LOCARNO POWERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 March 1936, Page 7

LOCARNO POWERS

DISCUSSIONS CONTINUED LEAGUE COUNCIL MARKS TIME [BY CABLE—PRESS ASSN.—COPYRIGHT.] (Recd. March 14, 10.45 a.m.) LONDON, March 13. The chief delegates' of the four Locarno Powers met alone, for two hours, but no statement was issued. The meeting was resumed in Mr Eden’s room, at 5 p.m. ‘ The closest secrecy surrounds the Locarno discussions.

It is understood that Mr Eden has intimated to the German Ambassador that Britain still leaves open her proposal to Germany, to make a spontaneous gesture towards a settlement. There is no indication as to whether the talks are sufficiently far advanced to enable the meeting of the Council of the League to be held tomorrow, for which extensive preparations are being made at St. James’ Palace all day. His Majesty has thrown open the State apartments, to ■accommodate the . secretarial staffs of the delegations. It may be the middle of next May, before the Council sits in public. Mr Bruce has not received an answer to' his invitation to Germany, to be represented at the League Council, and it now seems unlikely that Germany will accept, though Mr Bruce had intended to ask her representative to sit at the Council table, despite her non-membership. It is expected that, unless the Locarno Powers’ conversations progress rapidly to-night, to-morrow’s Council meeting will be brief and formal, and will adjourn till March 16, because it is not desired to consider any resolution condemning the remilitarisation of the Rhineland, unless the next steps are agreed upon.

RHINELAND TROOPS. LONDON, March 12. “The Times” political correspondent says: The Germans maintain that there are from-25,000 to 30,000 troops in the re-militarised zone. The highest French estimate of the troops there has been 90,000. The British Government has no grounds on which to estimate, but the number is generally taken as about 60,000 men. The “Daily- Mail’s” Metz correspondent says: The French observers on the Maginot Line report the withdrawal of large contingents of the German troops which, since Saturday, had been close to the French frontier. “The Times” Berlin correspondent says: The number of the Rhineland troops is here regarded as being small, considering the large area oi territory that is occupied. It is true that the German Government, at fiijst, intended to send still smaller detachments, but the military authorities represented that it would be inconvenient to send small bodies to wide-ly-separated districts. Therefore, it was decided not to divide the formations into smaller strengths than a battalion.

GOERING’S HEROICS.

BERLIN, March 13.

General Goering, in a speech at Koenigsberg, said: “Come what may, Germany, will stand together, like one man, to the last breath. We have offered the ivorld peace, but peace must come from both sides.”

GERMAN PRESS VIEWS.

BERLIN, March 13.

“Germany has done her share for the pacification of Europe. She now expects others to do their’s.” This epitomises the comment of the Berlin morning papers, in which the German official statement is given prominence, and especially the Government’s determination “rather to choose honourable isolation than to continue to live as a nation discriminated agains.t in the community of peoples.” The “Berliner Tageblatt” says: The Government’s statement is “a last appeal to the conscience of the politicians assembled in London.” It adds: Germany has shown that she is ready to make sacrifices for the ideals of European co-operation, and, in this 1 serious hour, she assures the world that she will honestly observe honest agreements. The “Kreutz Zeitung” strongly appeals to Britain, saying: It is hardly imaginable that the British people could support the French, especially after Mr Eden’s statement in the House of Commons, that there is no reason for the assumption that the German action contained a hostile threat.

The London correspondent of the “Boersen Zeitung” says: Britain must now decide whether she favours a system of European policy which is for keeping down Germany, or a system of independent European States with equal rights.

ANTI-FRENCH PROPAGANDA.

LONDON, March 13.

“The Times’s" Berlin correspondent says: The German public are fully convinced that the Locarno Treaty had already been ended by French action, and that all that Herr Hitler has done has been to register its decease.

It has been suggested in authoritative quarters that a slight alleviation of the tension might be induced if the French and German troops nowhere approached within five kilometres of the Franco-German border. It is stated that the French fortifications are along a strip five to fifteen kilometres from the frontier. The arrangement suggested would mean that no troops would be quartered nearer than the nearest fortress.

AUSTRIAN SURPRISE

LONDON, March 13

The Vienna correspondent of “The Times” says: A surprise is provided by the “Reichspost,” an organ of powerful Catholic interests, which welcomes Herr Hitler’s offer. It says: “Austria should not place any obstacle in the way of a return to an ordered, neighbourly relationship with our kindred Reich.” The “Reichspost” attitude is illuminating to those who think that Catholic opinion is solidly anti-Nazi. Official quarters disclaim the article. ITALY AND~SANCTIONS. ROME, March 12. Beneath an outward appearance of calm reserve, intense diplomatic activity is progressing. The Press, apparently from official sources, states that. Italy cannot apply Sanctions

against Germany, since she imports so many essentials from Germany. Nevertheless, Italy will do everything possible to assure -European peace, though Italy’s own position as a sanctioned countrj 7 impels important reservations.

SOVIET’S DIRECT ACTION.

LONDON, March 13.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” diplomatic correspondent says: The Soviet has marked its disapproval of Herr Hitler’s policy by cutting off its negotiations with Germany for five hundred million marks of credits for Russian purchases of German goods during the next ten years. LABOUR CONFERENCE.

LONDON, March 13

The biggest Labour Conference since the war will be held at London next week, to consider the European situation. About two hundred delegates, representing thirty-six million workers ami fifteen countries, will attend. ( The conference will bo held under the auspices of the British National Council of Labour.

Italy, Russia, and Germany will not. be represented. They are classed as non-democratic.

BRITISH BATTLESHIPS

LONDON, March 13.

During the coming financial year, seven out of fifteen British capital ships will undergo large alterations, involving an outlay of £2,689,000. These ships include the Warspite, on which nearly £1,000,000 will be spent, the Malaya, Nelson, Repulse, Revenge, Renown, and Royal Oak. DEFENCE MINISTER. LONDON, March 13. Sir Thomas Inskip has been appointed Defence Minister.