NATIONS IN CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19124, 16 September 1925, Page 11

NATIONS IN CONFERENCE.

YITAL ISSUES FOR LEAGUE. SECURITY AND DISARMAMENT r PROBLEM OF MIGRATION. THE EMPIRE'S ONE VOICE. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received 6.30 p.m.) A. and N.Z. GENEVA. Sept. 14. Around the five •'words, " Arbitration, security, disarmament, protocol and pact," every speech from the tribune continues to be woven. Geographical considerations. determine to which subject the colours aro applied most strongly. Thus little Uruguay, in a world apart, plumps for compulsory arbitration which is embodied in her own Constitution, while Hungary, intimately concerned with the question of eastern guarantees, fastens her hope on security as the first step toward a further instalment of disarmament. Tho speech of the \eteran Count Apponyi, which occupied 45 minutes, and was delivered without the aid of notes, was a feature of to-day's plenary session. Ho received an ovation which perhaps was due as much to respect for his 84 years and noteworthy effort, as to his plea that the League without waiting for a security agreement should without delay enter on a preliminary investigation which he urged was indispensable to any approach to the subject of disarmament. He submitted an amendment to that effect on the Spanish motion which made the achievement of some measure of security a condition precedent to a disarmament conference. Road to Disarmament. Count Apponyi urged that while gaps in national viow-points were being bridged the League for the sake'of tho world's confidence in its works and aims should prepare the way for disarmament. Fivo delegates will speak to-morrow and these speeches will end the general debate. No Dominion delegate has yet handed in his name as , desiring to occupy tho tribune. This is regarded as another striking example of the Empire's one voice. Mr Chamberlain spoke the Empire's mind in his advocacy of regional preference and general agreements. In the course of last year's Protocol debate the issue was raised whether migration was a domestic matter. . The question will not crop up this session, but persistent soundings are going on in the direction of the international control and standardisation of migration. This is evidently intended as preparatory' to a full discussion on the subject at the League's Labour Conference in 1926. This undercurrent is apparent not only in hotel smoke-rooms but .also in the Assembly lobbies, although the source is not determinable. Italy's Population Problem. There is frequent mention of Italy's problem of finding an outlet for her yearly surplus of 750,000 people. It may be wrong to attach any significance to several interviews between Italian and Japanese visitors, but there is a strong ground for the belief that the opportunity is being used for a quiet propaganda which is regarded as having a very important bearing on thft Empire's attitude toward a bond of an all-embracing character. It was rumoured to-oight that Turkey's latest move in regard to the Mosul question is a suggestion that a joint treaty be entered into between Britain, Persia, Turkey and Irak in order to give the last-named country stability, but it will be pointed out that Irak has acquired stability without Turkey's help. In any case the proposal is too late, because those who are well-informed on tho subject assert that the League Council's Committee is reporting wholly in favour of Britain.