BRITAIN AND ITALY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20234, 19 April 1929, Page 11

BRITAIN AND ITALY.

MEETING OF MINISTERS.

INFORMAL CONVERSATION. British Wireless. RUGBY, April 17. Sir Austen Chamberlain,, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was to-day asked to give the substance of his conversations with Signor Mussolini, Prime Minister of Italy, at Florence. He said:—

Having decided for personal reasons to spend Easier week at Florence I asked the British Ambassador to inform Signor Mussolini of my intention, and to say what pleasure it would give me to see him again if, as I thought possible, he were to bo in the neighbourhood.

Signor Mussolini, who was spending a few days at Forli, was good enough to motor over to see me. That was the fifth' occasion on which wo had met, including our first meeting at Rome in 1924. and I welcomed it as giving nte another opportunity for such an exchange of views with him as habitually 1 have had with other Foreign Ministers at Geneva.

No special importance attached to the meeting and no subjects were proposed for discussion at it, but as was natural we passed in review tlie general European situation as well as tho relations between our two countries, which are happily of the most cordial character. It will not be forgotten that Britain and Italy are guarantors of tho Treaty of Locarno and have thus a common interest in tho maintenance of peace and the promotion of good relations among, all the signatories of that treaty.