THE ALLIES

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 16 August 1924, Page 5

THE ALLIES

A CRITICAL STAGE. AWAITING GERMANY’S REPLY. THE .EVACUATION PROBLEM. BY CABLE—PRESS ASSOCIATION—COPYRIGHT LONDON, Aug. 15. After a day- of long, conference in London, the critical problem of the Ruhr evacuation was transferred at a late hour to Berlin. Dr W. Marx (the German Chancellor) telegraphed at length on a private wire from his apartments at the Ritz Hotel, the messages going direct to the Cabinet sitting in Berlin. At 2.30 this morning the following message was received in London from Berlin: “President Ebert presided over a meeting of the Cabinet, which lasted until after midnight, when, in consequence of further telegrams from London Cabinet adjourned until midday • on Friday. The questioning of party ; leaders is finished, and the subsequent -- standpoint of the Ministers and party leaders will be notified to the delega- . tion in London and an answer to the Allies will follow.” Dr Marx previously made it plain ip London that the fate of the German Government was in the . balance, and it would be necessary to consult the leaders of all parties before arriving at a decision. It is understood the German view is that the Ruhr and Cologne zone should bO evacuated by January 10. This the French Premier (M. Herriot) firmly negatived, but in the course of the day he intimated that although the evacuation time limit was a year, that period had been fixed without prejudice to an earlier evacuation. Moreover it is understood he made the concession that the year should begin when the agreement was signed, and immediately the Dawes report was put into operation the French will evacuate Mannheim and other towns in the sanctioned area. and withdraw the Frauco-Belgian railwaymen from the Ruhr, only reserving the right to reinforce the railway troops in case of emergency. Mr Ramsay MacDonald (Premier of Britain) and Mr Kellog (United States Ambassador in Britain) supported the revised plan, the acceptance of which it is believed Dr Marx .recommended to Berlin. Under the circumstances an easier, tone prevailed late last night. British official circles stated that the worst that could happen would be a delay. Certainly the conference would not break down. The Morning Post, however, declares that the conference could not last much longer, for the ' chief delegates were approaching a state of physical exhaustion. Mr MacDonald, after talking to the foreign delegates until three o’clock on Thursday morning, rose again to begin the day’s work at 6.30. While there was much plain speaking yesterday on the part of M. Herriot’and Dr Von Stresemann (German Minister for Foreign Affairs), the reports of the scenes were inaccurate. It is also untrue that Mr MacDonald and Mr Kellog sent an ultimatum to the Germans, demanding the immediate acceptance of M. Herriot’s terms. On the contrary there was the keenest anxiety to reach an agreement, and the delegates remained out of bed until they rer ■' ceived news that the German Cabinet had adjourned. Dr W. Marx (the German Chancellor) has advised Cabinet to accept the French offer. NEW YORK, Aug. 14. Mr C. E. Hughes (Secretary for State) on returning from Europe, expressed the belief that the Dawes report would be accepted by all the Powers and would ,be effective very , soon. He did not believe the acceptance of the plan hinged upon the date of the Ruhr evacuation.