REPARATIONS CONFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20787, 5 August 1929, Page 9

REPARATIONS CONFERENCE

REPRESENTATION OF DOMINIONS’ •' NO; DELEGATE FROM NEW ZEA-•-land, f;.".'.:: . . » (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) LONDON, ’August 3. (Received August’4, at 5.5 p.m.) The dominions v have been given the opportunity of being directly represented ( at The Hague Reparations Conference, but few of them are availing themselves of. the opportunity. Australia and New Zealand are leaving their interests to British'Treasui-y officials.—Australian Press Association.' ■ - THE DELEGATES . ASSEMBLING. PROTRACTED MEETING ; ’ EXPECTED. ■ THE CLAIMS OF BRITAIN. LONDON, August 4. (Received August 5, at 0:5 am.) Delegates from various nations are assembling at the Hague to participate in the momentous Reparations Conference, which will be opened on Tuesday iri Parliament Buildings. Most of the delegates may nearby at the seaside resort of Cheveningott. Thirteen : countries' will be.; represented; ' The delegates’ staffs number several hundreds.

The proceedings will inevitably be protracted, and it is hardly to be expected that they will conclude before the League Council meetings, which begin in Geneva, on August 29—United Service.

It is expected that Mr Snowden (Chancellor of the British Exchequer) will offer firm resistance to any proposal that a reduction should be made at the sole expense of, Britain, which will certainly lose at least £2,300,000 per annum over a period of 37 years, if the Young plan should be adopted in its entirety. Moreover, the German payments are, divided into two categories, whereof 33,000,000 are uncondltif nal, the remainder under certain circumstances being postponaljlc. Under the Young plan the British share comes from, the postponable portion of Germany’s payments. In other words, France and Italy, in addition to having their share increased at the expense of Britain, are given a prior charge on a. certain payment, whereas Britain is pot only allotted a smaller payment, but the uncertainty of getting even that. Moreover, Britain never recovered, and never will recover, the difference of £200,000,000 between what has thus far been paid to America and what was received from Europe. Britain also objects to a continuance of deliveries in kind- for a further deceinmim, and to the fact that the directorate of the new international bank includes more French and German members than British. There are also the thorny questions of the, Rhineland evacuation and the proposed committee of verification anad conciliation.—United Service.