NAVAL CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20375, 2 October 1929, Page 11

NAVAL CONFERENCE.

MATTER OF INVITATIONS.

WAY NOW MADE CLEAR.

LATEST FRENCH DEMANDS

Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received October 1, 8.5 p.m.) LONDON. Sept. 30

A wireless message despatched from the liner Berengaria says final communications have been received from the Dominions about the questions upon/which will depend the invitations to the five Power naval conference. The way is now clear lor invitations to delegates to attend the conference iu London in the middle of January. A special correspondent of the Daily Express on board the Berengaria says he understands that one of the difficulties the Prime Minister. Mr. Mac Donald, and the President of the United States. Mr. Hoover, will have to meet is a new claim by France. This is that for the purposes of naval tonnages her colonies shall rank equal with the British Dominions. Furthermore, says the correspondent, Franco wants the same Mediterranean strength as Kaly, which is concentrating upon fast cruisers.

BRITISH PROPOSALS. NOT THE LAST WORD. FIRST LORD'S STATEMENT. Australian and N.'Z. Press Association. (Received October 1, 11.35 p.m.) LONDON. Oct. 1. In the course of a speech at the Labour Conference tho First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. A. V. Alexander, stated in regard to naval disarmament that it must not be thought the present proposals constituted tho British Government's last word on the matter.

WELCOME TO AMERICA. PRIME MINISTER AND PARTY. ELABORATE PREPARATIONS. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received October 1, 8.15 pin.) NEW YORK. Sept. 30. Tho Secretary of State, Mr. 11. L. Stimson, tho British Ambassador, Sir Esme Howard, and other notable people will meet Mr. Mac Donald and his party at New York on Friday morning. The visitors are to bo escorted to the City Hall, where they will receive tho key to the city. They will ieave for Washington by special train. An elaborate programme of luncheons and dinners has been arranged for Jlr. Mac Donald during his stay in New York on October 11-13. He is to leavo lor Canada on October 14.

BRITAIN AND AMERICA. STEP TO UNDERSTANDING. LABOUR BEHIND MacDONALD. British Wireless. RUGBY. Sept. 30. The journey of the Prime Minister, Mr. Mac Donald, to tho United States as a sequel to his naval conversations with the American Ambassador, Mr. C. G. Dawes, is being watched with exceptional interest not only in Britain but also in other countries. Judging by comments which have appeared in European newspapers it is evident that the Prime Minister's statement before ho left England, in which he emphasised the wider international understanding " to which it is now ncccsary to bring the negotiations for naval disarmament, has had a reassuring effect. This is likely to be strengthened by Mr. Mac Donald's further reference to the subject in his message to the Labour Party's con ference. In that niPssagc he said any understanding between Britain and America could only b?, and was only intended to be, preliminary to a larger agreement which must be reached in conference with the other naval Powers, and later on in the Preparatory Commission at Geneva. Tho Labour Conference to day sent a wireless message to Mr. Mac Donald on board tho Berengaria assuring him of the members' continued confidence in liis leadership, which had so strikingly been justified by Labour's recent victories. The conference asked Mr. Mac Donald to convey to the President, Mr. Hoover, and people of America, its gratification at the wholehearted manner in which they aie seeking to co-operate in the gicat task of promoting international arrangements and so securing a peaceful and peaceloving world.