ACHIEVEMENT AT LOCARNO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19158, 26 October 1925, Page 9

ACHIEVEMENT AT LOCARNO.

NEW WILL TO PEACE.

DOMINIONS' FREE HAND. FUTURE ROLE OF GERMANY. BRITISH LEADERS OPTIMISTIC. By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright. (Received 7.5 p.m.) Renter. LONDON. Oct. 24. The Secretary of State for I' oreign Affairs, Mr. Austen Chamberlain, received the High Commissioners of the Dominions in reference to the Treaty of Locarno. In the course of a subsequent statement to the press, Mr. Chamberlain said the liberty of each Dominion had been reserved. The. treaty did not bind a Dominion unless it voluntarily undertook an obligation. No question had risen at Locarno in regard to who should have the mandates for the territories which had already been mandated. Germany was as eligible for a mandate as any other country. A reference to the Locarno Security Pact Conference was made by Viscount Grey in a speech at Swansea. He said a new spirit had been manifested there owing to Germany having entered the comity of Europe on equal terms. In a few years Germany must play at least as important a part in European affairs as she did before the war. If another war occurred it would not be on the question of a frontier or one of nationality, but on the great principle of arbitration for peaceful settlement. If Britain had followed the example of America by standing aside from the affairs of Europe that alone would have sufficed to wreck the peace of Europe. The only prospects for Russian credit rested on Russia co-operating in a policy of peace.

Viscount Grey emphatically declared that tlie new treaties would prepare the way for a reduction in armaments, by producing a sense of security.

The Prime Minister. Mr. Stanley Baldwin, speaking at an oyster feast in Colchester, said a will to peace had sprung up in Europe for the first time since the war. At the Locarno Conference solid foundations built which would bear any superstructure. Mr. Baldwin said lie believed peace would be built up in Western Europe. This was an essential prelude to ultimate peace throughout Europe. The entry of Germany into the League of Nations would enormously enhance and strengthen its power. OPPOSITION TO PACT. GERMAN NATIONALISTS' IRE. RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER'S TIRADE. (Received 7.5 p.m.) A. atad N.Z.—Heuter. LONDON. 'Oct. 2-1. Messages from Berlin report that the Nationalists, at a meeting of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Reichstag, declared that the Treaty of Locarno failed to fulfil the aspiration of the German people. They said its concessions fell far short of anticipation in view of Germany's sacrifices. As a party they could not accept the pact. The deliberations of the committee revealed the fact that there was unanimity in the Cabinet, but that the Nationalists were in no way placated. Consequently they find themselves in opposition to their own Ministers. A step toward conciliation was taken by Herr Stresemann, Minister for Foreign Affairs. In addressing the committee, he said the western pactj was merely a renunciation of aggressive wars. It did not interfere with the rights of selfdetermination, or with any other peaceful developments. Herr Stresemann's statement was designed to remove the objection of the Nationalists that Article 1 of the treaty contained an eternal, renunciation of the territory which Germany had lost in the west. It is anticipated that the Ministers who belong to the Nationalist Party will retire in consequence of tfcc governing board of the party having carried a resolution to the effect that the results of the Locarno negotiations are unacceptable. A Government majority for the ratification of the treaties is fully expected, notwithstanding the defection of the Nationalist Ministers. A despatch from Moscow states that the newspaper Izvestiya, in the course of a tirade against the Locarno Treaty, says, it leaves to Britain the decisive voice on all questions, even where slie appeared under the pseudonym of the Council of the League of Nations. The paper adds:— "The non-participation in the pjict of India and the Dominions is most significant as marking a step in the decay of the Empire." EFFECT OF AGREEMENT. RESTORATION OF COMMERCE. RIGHT DISPOSITION SHOWN. (Received 5.5 p.m.) Reuter. NEW YORK, Oct. 24. Sir Robert Home, Conservative member of the British House of Commons for Billhead (Glasgow) and formerly Chancellor of the Exchequer, spoke at a dinner given by the Pilgrims Club in his honour.

The speaker urged his auditors to place no faith in rumours that "England is done." He said the country had gained by her misfortunes, and would be helped greatly by the Treaty of Locarno, which would go far toward restoring the trade and commerce of Europe. The former United States Secretary of State, Mr. C. E. Hughes, said the promise of Locarno was not in the language of the various treaties, but in the disposition to make them. He said he hoped the United States Senate, acting upon the recommendation of the President, Mr. Calvin Coolidge, would give proper support to the Permanent Court of International Justice.