GREEK FINANCE DILEMMA

Hawera Star, Volume LI, 24 May 1932, Page 5

GREEK FINANCE DILEMMA

SUSPENSION OF PAYMENT. REPLY MADE TO POWERS. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 21. A reply has been received by the British Government to the recent protest of the British representative in Greece supporting the formal protest made by the international financial commission at Athens against the failure of the Greek Government to carry out its legal obligations with regard to foreign loans. The British Government was informed that the present financial situation of Greece compelled the Greek Government to suspend temporarily the transfer into foreign currency -pt sums for the payment of coupons of Greek loans maturing on May 1, as if such payments were continued the complete collapse of the drachma would follow. The Greek Government hoped the temporary suspension of payments would enable it to await tbe results of the Lausanne conference and reach an agreement with its creditors. Greece states that its creditors would benefit as Greece would be able to make them fair and as far as possible satisfactory proposals. The Government was prepared to submit tlie whole question to arbitration, which might include the capacity of Greece to pay. Similar replies, it is understood, have been received by the French and Italian Governments.

COURT MARTIAL FOR STRIKERS

CIVII. SERVANTS RESUME WORK

LONDON, May 23. Drastic cuts in the pay of civil servants caused a strike of State employees in Greece, says the Athens correspondent of the “Daily Express.” M Venizelos, the Prime Minister, decided to answer the challenge with a coun-ter-threat describing a general -strike in the nation’s hour of crisis as tantamount to a revolution. He announced that all strikers would be tried by court-martial. . This bold order led to a series of clashes with the military. M. Venizelos resigned and the strikers decided to return to work