FRANCE AND ITALY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume L, Issue 142, 15 May 1930, Page 7

FRANCE AND ITALY.

CONVERSATIONS AT GENEVA. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY, May 14. Hopes are entertained here that the private conversations proceeding at Geneva will contribute to a settlement of outstanding difficulties in the relations betweon France and Italv. The light programme at the Council meeting gives favourable opportunities tor formal conversation between Ministers, and naturally questions arising out of the discussions at the London Naval Conference are among those under reference. In conversation with Press correspondents last night, Mr Arthur Henderson said that i» would be delighted if he could contribute to a mutual understanding between France and Italy, and expressed himself in profound agreement with Signor Grandi’s recent statement that disarmament, which was a matter of years, not months, could only be settled through the League. He" praised the results of the Naval Conference and spoke of the connection between its work and the work of the Preparatory Commission for Disarmament. He thought that it would have been unwise to hold a meeting of the Preparatory Commission during the summer, and said that it was well that it had been postponed until November. Such delay would give time for fresh efforts to solve the difficulty of naval requirements and so help to simplify the work of the commission.