NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY. Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1923. CONFERENCES.

Northern Advocate, 24 July 1923, Page 4

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY. Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. TUESDAY, JULY 24, 1923. CONFERENCES.

Though the terms of the latest British: Note to the. Allies and 1 Germany liavc not been published, it'tis generally 4ndorstood tliat the newspaper summaries tire accurate, and they are certainly interesting. They indicate Britain's very keen anxiety to preserve the most friendly relations with France, and the comments of the French Prime have been so carefully guarded as to show that he is* fully sensible of the gravity of the situation. All the countries concerned in the solution of Europe's most difficult problem are acting more deliberately than they wore inclined to do not long ago, and Britain, it is to be noted, has even apparently expressed approval of the suggestion that a conference should be held with Germany. Since the war conferences have been almost continuous. Years ago the last thing the nations did was to get round the table when they had matters of international moment to discuss. Negotiations were conducted from the chancelleries by diplomats who only shared their confidences with their own Governments. Nowadays the conference is | the recognised method of negotiation. When Mr Lloyd George was Prime Minister he wias twitted with his fondness for conferences. And the conferences, though they have not yet found a w&y out of all the. difficulties that beset the Allies, have done very fine wt>rk. They have given opportunities for the free exchange of views, and thus have frequently cleared the horizon. While secret diplomacy is now under a cloud, conferences arc not regarded with suspicion. Even when the Press has not been admitted to big gatherings, fairly full reports of the proceedings have been published. General attention has been focussed on the subject of debate; public opinion has had a chance of asserting itself. Moreover, differences between friends or potential enemies are plainly more easy to compose in the atmosphere of a round-table discussion. Talk is an excellent safety-valve. Where allies who are at cross-purposes, or the parties to a dispute, have remitted an issue to a conference they cannot in decency take independent action or do anything to disturb the status quo until the conference has definitely failed to attain its end. The value of this agency as a delaying influence is admirably illustrated by thfe history of the Lausanne Conference. Last September Britain appeared to be on the verge of war with Turkey; a war which she would have had to wage by herself. The announcement that Ivemsil Paslia had agreed to remit the matters in contention to Lausanne was hailed with boundless relief. Here, at least, was a breathing space. The conference opened in November, and, with brief adjournments, it sat for close upon eight months before'finality was reached. Its proceedings were not always harmonious. There was a great deal of backing and filling, and a certain amount of bluster on the part of the Turks. More than once an ultimatum was delivered; but the Allies, well versed in the ways of the Oriental, recognised that nothing is to be gained by an attempt to "hustle the East." Even when a rupture seemed inevitable, the door to negotiation was not irrevocably closed. Invariably, at tho last monuent, the Turk reappeared to renew the bargaining as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, with every month that passed the prospect of war became more remote. The lvemalists might have fought when their blood was hot, but time brought leisure for reflection, and their belligerent enthusiasm perceptibly abated. One by one the major issues between the Allies and Turkey were settled; consideration of other:;, such as the boundaries of Mosul, was postponed. The remainder provoked interminable discussion; but they were not worth fighting about. Neither Britain nor France nor Turkey, for example, would contemplate going to war over the question whether the Turkish debt, is to be paid in sterling or gold francs; that is essentially a matter for arrangement. It is perhaps too soon to say that the Lausanne agreement has definitely closed a:i unfortunate chaptor in the history of the Near East, but it has apparently satisfied all the parties so far as the major issues are concerned, and it promises a permanent settlement. Considering the nature of the problems that had to be solved and the constitution of the Lausanne Conference, the agreement I. a remarkable achievement. The difficulties'to be faced in connection with the reparations question are really no greater than those which have been met at Lausanne, and even now a conI ference might have very important results. The mere holding of a. conference would at--least place the parties on a. new footing and thus open the w:iv to i\ settlement. I

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