HAGUE CONFERENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20799, 19 August 1929, Page 9

HAGUE CONFERENCE

DISCUSSION ON REPARATIONS. ■] MR SNOWDEN'S DEMANDS. NEW PROPOSALS SUBMITTED. i i (British' Official Wireless.) (United' Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph— Copyright.) I ■ RUGBY, August 16. '"ress telegrams from The Hague state **hat the representatives of France, Italy, • Belgium, ■ and Japan to-day handed Mr Snowden (the British Chancellor pf the Exchequer) their decision regarding his demands. It is stated that the four Powers have evolved a new proposal- which represents an 80 per cent, offer towards meeting the claim for £2,400,000 yearly, which Mr Snowden refuses to sacrifice under the Young' ‘reparations plan. . The next- developments of the situation .will .take place at to-morrow’s meeting of the Financial Commission, and are awaited with considerable anxiety. ■THE HAGUE, August 16. It is. learned on reliable authority that tlie Powers have evolved a new proposal giving Britain £1,900,000 additional compared with the £2,400,000 demanded.—Australian Press Association. DETAILS OF THE NEW OFFER. SITUATION STILL CRITICAL. EARLIER REPORTS CONTRADICTED, THE HAGUE, August 16. • The Belgian delegate (M. Jaspar) denies the receipt .of a written reply from Mr Snowden on the subject of the latest proposals. British circles state that while it is "quite true that M. Jaspar has • not received a written reply, it was made clear that Mr Snowden did not regard the proposals as satisfactory, and a written reply 'in that sense would be sent to M. Jaspar to-morrow. It is learned that the new proposals of the four Powers are:— First, Britain is to receive £1,020,000 more annually than under the Young plan. 6 Secondly; that the site of the International Settlement Bank is to bo London. . Thirdly, the clause in the Young Plan allowing the recipient Powers to reexport deliveries in kind from Germany is to be abolished. Fourthly, a concession is to fie made to Britain regarding the countries now receiving German coal deliveries, . Other correspondents state that the situation is critical until M. Jaspar has visited Mr Snowden. It is now clear that despite earlier reports Mr Snowden has nof definitely rejected the new proposals.—Australian Press Association. ENTIRELY INADEQUATE, MR SNOWDEN ANALYSES THE PROPOSALS. JUST SETTLEMENT REQUIRED. LONDON, August 17. (Received August 18, at 5.5 p.m.) To-day’s proceedings at The Hague were largely argumentative. Yesterday’s proposals on behalf of the four Powers having been reduced, ,to, writing, Mr Snowden-to-day despatched a written reply, the-gist of which. was that the proposals were entirely inadequate and unsatisfactory, and that a more serious effort must he made to meet the British requirements if the conference was going to succeed. Mr flnowden’s reply pointed, out that the British Government was merely demanding rights to which it was already entitled under the existing agreements. Britain’s original share under the Spa percentages must be restored or its equivalent given. She also must recover something like her full percentage of unconditional annuities. Mr Snowden again refutes the contention that the Young Plan must he taken as a whole, and reminds the other Powers that the experts’ recommendations were never binding on Britain. Mr Snowden argues the subject statistically at some length in order to prove the sacrifices Britain is being asked to make. Dealing with the apportionment of ‘ unconditional annuities, Mr Snowden says it is impossible to reconcile France’s increased allotment with the promise which M. Poincare made to Mr Churchill in 1928, namely, that Fiance would never seek to obtain priority or further advantage. Britain, lindei the Dawes scheme, would receive a surplus first in tlis decade amountin'' to £3,000,000, but the new plan would deprive Britain of this mainly for Italy’s benefit, though Italy had already obtained considerable sums, when Britain settled Italy’s war debt on a scale of unprecedented liberality. It wa S now proposed that Italy’s share of German annuities should be increased at Britain’s expense. Mr Snowden, in conclusion, describes the proposals relating to. deliveries in kind as va<me and indefinite. Britain is not prepared to accept any arrangement imposing upon her fresh sacrifices. - ■■Similarly, the proposals dealing with the surpluses of the unconditional annuities were unacceptable and could not even be regarded as a serious effort to , ~L lita ‘ n ’ s • requirements. The -British Government must press for a tnst and equitable, settlement.—Australian Press Association. TIME TO CALL A HALT. BRITAIN NOT ALWAYS TO PAY. . L GNDON, August 18. (Received August 19, at 1 a.m.) British circles comment on the reproach directed at Britain, that she is sacrificing world peace for a few paltry millions and that it is not a question of money alone. Britain’s position is that after all the sacrfices she has already made the time had come to cal] a halt. If she made these concessions they ..oulrl simply be used to manipulate further concessions, if the occasion arose. Britain was not placing obstacles in the way of European pacification. It would be truer to say the peoples who alleged this were not prepared to do anything for pacification unless Britain paid °tliom therefor. . The Sunday newspapers strongly and unanimously support Mr Snowden, The French press, however, continues bitter. —Australian Press Association. COMMITTEE OF EXPERTS APPOINTED. LONDON, August 18. (Received August 18, at 11 p.m.) _At 7 o’clock last evening M. Jaspar Tisited Hr Snowden and asked him to agree to the appointment of experts to estimate the value of various allocations suggested in yesterday’s memorandum. Mr Snowden assented. A committee of Treasury experts of Britain, France, Italy, Belgium, and Japan is accordingly being formed immediately, and is expected to report on August 20.