EUROPE’S PEACE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 24 March 1925, Page 5

EUROPE’S PEACE

ALLIED GUARANTEE PACT.

SOME DIVERGENT VIEWS

INCLUSION OF GERMANY. BY CABLE—PRESB ASSOCIATION-COPYBIGHT. Received March 24, 8.50 a.m. LONDON, March, 23. The Daily News says that intensive diplomatic negotiations are proceeding I'egiau'aing an Allied pact guaranteeing the peace ot \Vesitem Europe. the German ambassador visited Mr. Austen Chamberlain' (Foreign Seciet/ary) and cleared __ up some obscure points contained in 'Germany’s original proposals. T!he British and French Cabinetw.'are discussing these, wliioh have isrnoobhed the path to some extent. The chief obstacle is the Polish frontier, ■ with which Germany is dissatisfied and is not willing to guarantee, though she iis willing to submit the disputes thereon to arbitration. Britain is not willing to commit herself to guaranteeing Pola,nd, despite French pressure. There i.s some indication that a separate pact regarding Poland, hut excluding* Britain, may provide a. solution. Germany’s proposals include the early evacuation of the Rhineland. — Svdnev Sun Cables.

FR ANCE’S AWKWARD POSITION. '* LONDON, March 23. The Daily Express states that the week promises to be momentous for the future of Europe. After the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Austen Chamberlain) has given the House of Commons to-morrow an indication of the progress made at Geneva, Mr Ramsay MacDonald , (the Labour leader) will champion the rejected Geneva scheme, thus committing himself and the Socialist Party to a scheme which the Dominions rejected. M. Herriot (Premier of France) is being informed of the British views upon security by the French Ambassador (M. Emile Fleurin), but M. Herriot’s problem is: Shall he side with Britain or Poland, which refuses to consider the German scheme for a security pact, as a promising basis for discussion. Germany is suspected of seeking to change the boundary in the East fixed by the Treaty of. Versailles. The Paris correspondent of the Daily Chronicle states that M. Herriot is not pleased with Signor Mussolini (the Premier of Italy), who recently dramatically intervened in the security embroglio by offering England a treaty alliance to the exclusion of France. Mr Chamberlain, as in duty bound, made the offer known to France. The mere suggestion alarmed France, and set the French Government wondering whether delay in admitting Germany to the international. pact mav not be carried too far. and the result is that France is falling between two stools. The British thesis is that a formula must he found on the basis of the German offer. 1

The possibility of including Germanv in the pact is being seriously considered at the Ouai d’Orsny. If Germany agrees to a non-aggression pact, the revision of the Polish frontier can at least he discussed.