NAVAL COMPROMISE

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 2 October 1928, Page 5

NAVAL COMPROMISE

* DOOR NOT CLOSED. EFFECT OF. AMERICAN NOTE. WHAT CAN NOW BE DINK ? (British Official Wirele?..) RUGBY, Sepl. 30. Most ol' the newspaper comment this morning on the reply of Oie- United States to the AnglcErench proposals put forward to werc-ome the difficulties encountered -J the Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference. . All the papers ngrf in regarding the Note as frank, hud and friendly. Many consider it was plain irora the first that, even thougi they had been regarded sympathe ; cally by the Japanese and Italian Governments to whom they were a’-o submitted, the proposals would «>t be regarded favourably bv Arnica, and that, as their efi'ectivenes . depended upon general acceptance it was useless to put them forwar- The main point which now has o be considered is what future steS can be taken to discover a bias, ifor resumption of work of the P?paratory Conference, which was the .sole object of the Anglo-French fitiative. On© or twe journals comment on the fact that he -far-reaching and detailed scheme of limitation at the Geneva Nav.v Conference seems to have been orgotten. The British scheme, so E from leaving the naval categories limited, actually proposed nine categdes of warships, vaiying from oaoita ships down to submarines, river it and even coastal motor boats. l<yry type of surface and urider-wa t r ! wareraft came within the of 1? British limitation scheme. It is ffd recalled in regard to the exDressic/of American willingness to ■nrree t- - the total abolition of subBritish willingness to do I likewise was 'first expressed at the Washifton Conference and repeated at'the^ eneva Conference. “Tb Times” says that the generally frienc tone of the American note ghoul he fully recognised, and points out iat it admits there may be room f OI . ome further exploration of the nueion of naval armament within the lim s the American view of naval ]lo'SSlti<sS. The Times’’ thinks that the very fc.st that can be said for the Anglojench compromise is that it was a ,neere effort to evade a deadlock in ne Preparatory Commission. There vas a strong feeling that something iiad to be done to further its work and anxious exploration led •in and bv the ’process of mutual concession to the compromise between Great Britain and France as a basis for discussion bv other interested Powers ; * It is very certain that in all this transaction no offence was intended to the United States, nor could it ever nave teen assumed that the terms of the agreement were exclusive, or that thev were not subject to modification in the course of negotiation with other naval Powers. They were frankly intended as a basis for discussion, and with that object thev were immediately submitted to the United States. It is most unfortuntate that what ivas sincerely intended as a contribution to a general solution of the disarmament problem should have been misunderstood, also quite sincerely, in the United States, and that the proposed basis for discussion should have been! rejected almost unconditionally. The best that can be said in the meantime is that, after all, in the American note there are clear indications or a desire for further consideration. The door is not closed.

ITALIANS PLEASED. AT AMERICAN NOTE. ANGLO-FRENCH DIPLOMACY CRITICISED. ("Times” Cables.) LONDON, Oct. 1. The Rome correspondent of ‘‘The Times” states that, in consequence of the Italian Government’s displeasure at having been., as it thinks, left, out in the cold during the negotiations, and also real disagreement with the terms of the moral compromise, there is great satisfaction at the American Note. The view is that the compromise is only demonstrating how completely bankrupt is Anglo-French policy of pacification. These comments are plainly dictated by a desire to stir up had blood between England, the Fnited States and France. Italian journalists in London unflatteringly criticise Anglo-French diplomacy. One recalls a. conversation in 1902 with a naval officer who said war with Germany was inevitable. . The journalist says England now .similarly aims at war with the United States, declaring that the compromise represents the opening of hostilities.

PUBLICATION OF AGREEMENT. WOULD PROVE ANGLO-FRENCH SINCERITY. POLITICAL ISSUES INVOLVED. (Australian Prpsa Association.' PARIS, Sent. 30. The newspaper “Le Temps” says the next step must lx? the publication of the text of the Anglo-French naval compromise, which will prove- to the world the sincerity of the AngloFrench disarmament effort. The American Press campaign against the compromise must have affected Washington. whose Note makes negotiations more difficult, bringing back the subject to the point where the Geneva naval conference breakdown left it.

The “Daily Telegraph’s” diplomatic correspondent says that apart from technical considerations the American Note involves important political issues, for instance. whether future negotiations with the United States ran he conducted jointly hv Britain and France. . Official circles are of opinion that the British concession to France with respect to reserves and the computation of military strengths must stand, regardless of the agreement which is self-contained, as it is generally assumed Britain would uot Ire at liberty to revert to the -standpoint of the Washington conference in favour of total abolition of the- submarine in practice. This change of front may be most difficult, though it would be a pity if Britain were unable to join the United States in an endeavour to reach this goal, equally from the standpoint of humanity and of national and Imperial interests.