SIGNING OF THE PACT

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LVI, 9 January 1926, Page 3

SIGNING OF THE PACT

AN HISTORK GATHERING FILM C.\MKP.A,S HARD at wop.k ', e.t;i no* love and being i;; my cb;l dreri knowing thai they wii] not be. victims of war " These words, written "by a mother to M. Briand, were repeated by him at the signing • I ihr Locarno Treat > . They

.-■truck a wis' liuiiiiin note in tile cci v monial. Tin- following is a pen picture of the historic event Hutu a London paper : The signing of the Treaty of Locarno a; tlie Foreign Office was rather sombr« as to externals, hut though all were in black, the promise of peace extolled by the delegates of Britain. France, Germany, and four other nations, seemed more sincere than was the rase when, in 1919. another i'eace Treaty was signed. in the much more brilliant Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. Overnight, the portrait o,f King George, which usually hangs in the House of Lord*, had "been brought into the n i.mi. The only i titer portrait was thai of Lord Castlereagii. the Foreign Secretary, who represented Great- Britain at tin Congress cf Vienna alter the Nil pole, i iic Wars and dominated tin in at Vienna to neiirlv the extent which Sir Austin Chumberlaii achieved at 1.0 The rest was simplicity in brown and gill, tallies covered with plain cloths. blotters, pads and rod leather chairs. The i illy incisive note came from the

dais tinon which lilm cameras stood upon tripods, and from the seaffelding of rough wood high Up in a cconer. over which the operator of flood light negligently dangled his legs. BK1UNI) SIH AUSTEN'S (HAIR ( abinel Ministers, Ambassadors, Do minion Nigh Co'ininissinners, ollicials and women relatives of the distinguished company all of it in mourning-—had waited ten minutes before the delegates appeared. Lord Balfour was alone by a window. .Mr Churchill. .Mr Amerv, Sir William Joynsoii- Hicks. Mr Neville Chainherlaiii and oilier Ministers formed a group Tiehind Sir Austen Chamberlain's chair. , .Meanwhile. Lady Chamberlain was kepi busy acknowledging the. congratulations i f Mis Baldwin and others i it her new honour, and Mr Churchill took Sir Au-ten's son under his wing beneath the Castlercagh port rait. The flood lights suddenly made- the assembly blink, and the film cameras whined as M. Briand and Dr. Luther, the German Chancellor, led the arrival of the signatories. Herr Slreseinaiin. looking more than ever like the portrait which Mr Augustus John painted last year, followed wil'h Signor Seialoja, and amid the

hand o't inter arrivals sir .\usien i namberlain was hardly noticed. He exchanged a quick smile with Lady Chamberlain, bowed to the delegates already ;il the large table, and laughed at a whispered remark from the Prime Minister, who was seated on his left. ••MESSIEURS!"—THE WELCOME But it was Sir Austen's ceremony in particular, and he was not allowed to remain unassuming. He kept the as senihlv's respect fill attention from the moment when he begun the ceremony with the "Messieurs'' preliminary to a speech in precise. well-enuni'int ed I'tench, welcoming the delegates on behalf of the King. This he followed wjlli a personal wolconn from Mr Baldwin and himself, and with a peroration--still in French —that emphasised Great Britain's resolve to do everyt-hiiig possible to spare future generations the unhappiness and destruction which all present had known in their lifetime. Meanwhile the film cameras were grinding like so many dentist's drills, and when Dr. Luther, who next had the ear of the table, started to read in German from his notes. Sir Austen had to lean forward and put one hand behind his ear. Dr. Luther was halting and uncertain a! first, but his voice gained strength as lie rcciprr* aied. "From the bottom of my heart." Sir Austen's iervent desire for peace, and demanded a banishment of •mistrust. He, like the rest of the speakers, lhanked the Foreign Secretary for his .-;,hud. d work ii! Locarno; and it was noticeable that he referred to the chairman, not as Ihr 'MY Chamberlain" of yesterday, but as the "Sir Austen Chamberlain" of to day. SIN AUSTEN PITS ON SI'FIT A l LFS All except the Foreign Secretary and' Signer Seialoja (who had brought a ijiiillj used the wooden pen holders from tin. table. When Sir Austen's turn came he permitted himself his single gesture nl the morning. He removed his eyeglass, put on a pair of heavy tortoi'se~'iell spectacles, and applied with a, flourish the decorative pen in vermeil (mixture i'i gold and silver) which the members of the British delegation to Locarno had presented to him. The Pact proper having been dealt with, four other officials jumped up and took, to the various signatories, the ironies of Arbitration between'Franco and Germany, Belgium and Germany, Poland and Germany, and Germany ami Czechoslovakia, all bound in the national colours of the respective nations. Dr. Lullier and Herr Strescmann occupied live minutes with careful calligraphy. The scaffolding lights were again dimmed wjien this was over, and the feeling of solemnity was relaxed. M. iiriaud and Dr. Luther leaned toward each other from opposite sides of the t.'iijle and talked with informal animation. ,\l. Briand pounded on the table; he waved his arms; he laughed aloud at a joke from M. Tunes; he turned and rallied Sir Austen Chamberlain when the. latter removed the spectacles and replaced the monocle. Sir Austen grinned and shook his forefinger. THE CONFERENCE IS OVER" Locarno now being accomplished history the signatories set about explaining their hopes of what it would achieve. None spoke for longer than six minutes, but all were ardent. Suitably, it was Sir Austen who declared the proceedings closed. lie was sending he announced, a telegram from them all to the municipality of Locarno. 1 hanking il for the hospitality which had contribute,! to the making of Europe's Pact of Peace. Then: "Gentlemen, the conference is over. ' And Ihe las" incident of an historic morning having been applied to Ins honour the Mayor of Locarno. nine European Ministers rose with nine im-portantly-used pons, and there was a decorous scramble between Dr. Luther, M. Briand and Signor Sciah ja to be the first to shake hands with Sir Austen ( hamberlaiii.