CLOUD AT LOCARNO.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 109, 8 April 1926, Page 10

CLOUD AT LOCARNO.

UNEXPECTED DIFFICULTIES

LOCARNO AGREEMENT NOT HARMED. LONDON, March 26. “When I returned from Locarno my countrymen received mo with such a wealth of praise and generous acknowledgment that I whispered to my wife: ‘.Beware wlien all men. speak well of you.’ On Tuesday I met my iudges in the House of Commons when I wasn’t in the mood to reply to them with bated breath or whispered humbleness,” said Sir Austen Chamberlain when, receiving tho freedom of the City of London at the Guildhall A picturesque sceno was furnished by the uniforms of the notablo personages present. Mr and Mrs Baldwin, Mr Neville Chamberlain, tho Dominions High Commissioners and the Spanish, French and German Ambassadors were cheered to the echo, but there ivas a noticeable silence as tho Brazilian Minister mounted the steps of tho platform. Sir Austen, with monocle fixed throughout, spoke firmly and clearly. He continued; “Although I am proud of tho honour you have done me, my thoughts aro more akin to humble gratitude, because I have been permitted to play a part in the great peace work of Locarno, which is due to no single nation, but to tho effective co-oiieration of many men and many nations. We must remember that two great far-seeing German statesmen took the first step on the path to Locarno, and this initial step aas brought to fruition by the generous, broad-minded policy of a great Frenchman. SEVERE TEST.

“It is truo that last week a cloud passed over Locarno. Unexpected difficulties arose to impede the consummation of our work, severely testing the strength of Locarno’s foundations and the reality, of its purpose and its national sentiment. “It is somo consolation that Locarno has emerged not only unharmed, but strengthened. The seven Locarno Powers who sealed the pact of peace showed that they wore determined to keep their word and not allow nnexpected interruptions to hamper tlicir policy of peace.”