ARMS FOR ETHIOPIA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22226, 28 September 1935, Page 13

ARMS FOR ETHIOPIA

CARGO FROM BELGIUM £25,000 WORTH EXPECTED ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS ALSO By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received September 27, 5.5 p.m.) Times Cable LONDON, Sept. 27 The Addis Ababa correspondent of the Times, in a copyright message, says: It is now clear that the arms embargo ha/s been definitely broken. The Abyssinian Government expects a shipment of arms from Belgium any day. This cargo was banned in July and removed from a ship lying at Antwerp, although the Emperor Haili Selassie had paid for it. The cargo includes 1700 rifles, 2300 carbines and seven billion rounds of ammunition, worth £25,000. Numbers of Swiss anti-aircraft guns have reached Addis Ababa and Swiss instructors are teaching native gunners how to use them.

PARTIAL MOBILISATION THE FRONTIERS ONLY GENERAL DECREE DENIED (Received September 27, 11.55 p.m.) Times Cable LONDON. Sent. 27 A circumstantial report from Addis Ababa circulated in the middle of this week stating that general mobilisation had been ordered in Abyssinia was instantly officially denied. The special correspondent of' the Times this morning reveals that mobilisation is not general in the interior, but was partial yesterday and was limited to the frontiers facing Italian territory and is believed to bo impending in the south-west areas. Gore and Maji. However, in the last hour, an official despatch from Addis Ababa repeats the categorical denial of the statement that general mobilisation has been decreed. MOMENTOUS ACTION LEGAL POINT OF VIEW HOPE CONCERNING REPORT The unanimous decision of the League Council to invoke Article XV. of the Covenant was described yesterday by Professor R. M. Algie, professor of law at Auckland University College, as "a No. 1 triumph" for the League. "The news is of tremendous importance," he said, "because, even if put at its lowest value, it means that the members of the Council are determined to work within the terms of the Covenant and along the lines of collective action. "It should be remembered that Article XII. of the Covenant provides the two methods between which the disputants are expected to choose. They can submit their dispute to arbitration or judicial settlement on the one hand, or to inquiry by the Council on the other. It is well known that the latter of these two methods was selected by the parties to the present dispute. Effect of Article XV.

"Articles XIII. and XIV. deal with the procedure that is to be adopted when the dispute is referred to arbitration or judicial settlement, and obviously they have no bearing .on the present quarrel. "When inquiry by the Council is resorted to, Article XV. comes into play. This clause tells us that the duty of the Council is to bo essentially a duty of .conciliation, and members of the Council are to use every effort, to effect a settlement. If they succeed, they publish the terms of the settlement to the world at large, but if they fail then they are under an obligation to prepare a report setting forth tho salient facts, together with a statement of their recommendations. "If this report," said Professor Algie, "is unanimous—excluding, of course, Italy, because a disputant may not vote —then every member of the League of Nations is under an obligation not to go to war with the particular country that proceeds to carry out its recommendations. This would mean that if the Council recommends a given line of action and Abyssinia at once sets about doing what is required of her, then Italy would violate tho Covenant of thf League if thereafter she took any hostile action against Abyssinia. Moreover, Italy would, as a logical result, find herself technically at war' with all the other members of tho League. "If, however, tho report of the Council should be only a majority report, then the members of tho League, including Italy, are quite free, so far at least as the Covenant itself is concerned, to take whatever action they think best. Significance of Decision "It will readily bo seen, therefore, why this cable news is *so important," said Professor Algie. "It gives some indication of a degree of unanimity in the Council, and this in itself will bo of tremendous importance as a factor in bringing about a settlement." "It should bo pointed out that the present agreement is moro important from the international legal point of view than from tho point of view of tho public generally. It will be noticed that the Council has so far done no more than agree to use the procedure of Article XV. This is a tremendous advance in itself from a legal point of view, but what we shall hope for is that, when the Council has made use of the procedure of Article XV., it will submit to the Assembly a unanimous report as to what it thinks should be done." In a previous statement Professor Algie had indicated that there was a grave danger that some ill-advised action by Abyssinia on the frontier would set serious events in train and remove the whole matter from tho hands of the League. Taking this into consideration yesterday, he thought the decision of the League on the present occasion was tho best news that had been heard from Geneva since tho signing of the Covenant. SHIPS AVOIDING SUEZ SINGAPORE. Sept, 20 The Royal Dutch Mail Line steamers are sailing for New York via the Cape instead of via the Suez Canal.