THE NEAR EAST

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 19 October 1922, Page 5

THE NEAR EAST

—+ SUGGESTION BY BEITAIN. MEETING OF ALLIED EXPEETS. BY CABLE—PEESS ASSOCIATION—COPYEIGHT LONDON, Oct. 17. Britain has suggested to France and Italy that a meeting of Allied' experts should be held in London as soon as possible to discuss any necessary modifications of the financial and economic clauses of the Treaty of Sevres. There is no question but that the conference will be quite informal and no definite decisions will be taken. Italy has agreed to be represented at the meeting, but. France has not yet I replied. I Ti . PARIS, Oct. 18. I- It is semi-officially stated that the Government, while accepting the principle of an experts' discussion on the modification of the Treaty of Sevres, are of opinion that the Turkish Nationalist leaders might be led, by the innate distrust of Orientals, to imj agine that the inter-Allied conference was designed to prejudice Ottoman interests. Therefore, the selection of London will import a new difficulty into already complicated negotiations, and hence the French Government proposes the meeting should be held at Paris, where the preliminary work of the settlement of the Near East problem was undertaken in March last. ■ . LONDON, Oct. '18. Sir L. Worthington Evans (Secretary of War), speaking at London, stated that contrary to exaggerated estimates the actual cost of the Government's preparations in the Near East was under £2*500,000.