YOUNG PLAN REVISION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20800, 20 August 1929, Page 9

YOUNG PLAN REVISION

THE BRITISH CLAIMS. NO UNFAIR ADVANTAGE. SIMPLY ASKING FOR RIGHTS. (British Official Wireless.) (United Press Association.) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) KUGBY, August 18. The British delegation’s reply to the inadequate proposals of the four creditor Powers consisted of a covering letter and a memorandum. The former suggests that if . the conference is to succeed, a further and more serious effort must be made to meet the British position, and that the Note from the other Powers only repeats in a vague manner the suggestion already discussed and rejected by the British delegation as quite inadequate. The British delegation claims no' unfair advantage, but is -simply asking for tin rights to which it is entitled under the existing arrangements. Great Britain must recover, either by annuities or by capital, the sum of £2,400,000.a year which she loses under the Young Plan proposals, as well as a share in the unconditional annuities approximating to her due percentage, if not equivalent to it. The memorandum deals seriatum with the arguments and proposals put forward in the Note of the four Powers. It states that the British Government cannot agree that the work of the experts must be dealt with as a whole and cannot be rediscussed. The experts were independent, and did not bind their Governments, and this was recognised by the British and French Governments before their- appointment and during their meetings. The British Government has no desire to alter the fundamental part of the Young Plan, and will accept it as regards payments to be made by Germany, which was the main point on which the-experts advice was asked. All that the British Government desires is to bring distribution of the whole of the annuities and the unconditional part of them into conformity with the existing agreements, which are binding upon tbe Governments who signed them. The Young Plan does not, as, suggested by the other Powers, offer to Great Britain advantages which compensate for her sacrifices. Under it the Italian Government had claimed and obtained a settlement of its -war debt to Great Britain. on unprecedently favourable terms, under the plea that it was entitled to a comparatively small share of the reparations. Yet it was ’now proposed that, Italy’s share in the German annuity should be increased at the expense of Great Britain, not for the purpose of covering her debt liabilities, but in order to provide her with a substantial surplus over and above her. full war debt cover. The new. proposals for deliveries in kind, which are vague and indefinite, are less favourable to Great Britain than the Versailles Treaty, and in any case: would not compensate Great Britain for other financial sacrifices. Mr Snowden’s attitude continues to receive the whole-hearted support of the British Press. The Observer says; “ Certain minimum rights were secured to this country at Spa, and in reliance upon them Britain has settled-.with- her . debtors on terms of unparalleled generosity. . The country is behind Mr Snowden in his refusal to. have them whittled away.” Tbe Sunday Times says: “ Throughout the war and ever since Great Britain’has been making heavy sacrifices to help her Allies and neighbours, and it is high time that they began to show sonic ’consideration for' us. The two extra millions that are in dispute could well be found by those countries that have had hundreds of millions from us since 1914. Our European friends should realise that this country is in earnest, and means to have the Young Plan revised.” THE NEW PROPOSALS. TERMS UNSATISFACTORY. ' _ LONDON, August IT. An authoritative commentary issued from the British delegation contends that the presentation of-the four Powers’ written proposals justifies the strong line Mr Snowden; has taken throughout the week. It was his Note to M. Jaspar—which was 'called in some quarters an ultimatum—which speeded up the proceedings by producing yesterday’s memorandum, but the British delegation cannot but regard the terms of such memorandum as unsatisfactory. Its purport appears to be that Britain is already deriving considerable advantages from the Young Plan, but that the four Powers, out of the generosity of their own hearts, are prepared to make further concessions. Instead of giving Britain 80 per cent, of her full demands, she is to get only 20 per cent., and this involves no sacrifices,on the part of the four Powers, but will have to be at the expense of the smaller Powers, and Britain is not prepared to accept concessions at their expense.—Australian Press Association—United Service. THE FINANCIAL COMMISSION. . MEETING POSTPONED. (British Official Wireless.) . RUGBY, August IT. The meeting of the Financial Committee of The Hague Conference, .which had been arranged for to-day, was last night postponed until next week lo give the Powers concerned a further opportunity of formulating proposals to meet the British claim for equitable treatment in regard to the disposal of the reparations annuities. I’llis postponement was arranged after M. Jaspar, on behalf of France, Italy, Belgium, and Japan, and handed to Mr Snowden a memorandum containing the proposals which Mr Snowden verbally intimated to be unsatisfactory, and to which he sent a written reply to-day. It is understood by correspondents that the memorandum was vague in its terms, and that it failed to cover the points in the British demands, but its contents are considered confidential for the , time being in order to give the Powers an opportunity for further consideration. The delegates concerned with the political problems had several informal conversations yesterday, but the nicotiim of the four Ministers—Mr HeodorsoiT, M. Briand, M. Hymans, and Dr Ktreacmann—which was contemplated for today, has also been postponed. DETAILS OF THE OFFER. LONDON, August 19. (Received August 19, at 10 p.m.) Details of the offer to Britain of the four Powers show that it included an additional capital sum of £5,000,000 out of the Dawes annuity for the period between the Dawes and Youug Plans (Mr Snowden admits that this reduces Britain’s .claim from £2,400,000 - to £2,100,000 annually); second, an additional ■ capital sum estimated at £10,000,000 out of the Dawes payments (this is equal to only -one-quarter of Britain’s demands); third, an increased share of the unconditional annuity arising from the services of the Dawes loan (equal to £1,833,000, whereas Mr Snowden claims that Britain is entitled to a conditional annuity of £6,000,000) . Jt is now expected that the conference will last till the week-end, because the Queen, after consultations, has issued invitations to a dinner on-Friday.—Aus-tralian Press Association.

GERMAN PRESS OPINION. TRIBUTE TO MR SNOWDEN. BERLIN, August 19. (Received August 10, at 10 p.m.) The press is sanguine that the bulk of Mr Snowden’s claims will be ultimately conceded. The Morgenpost honours him with the title of “ the Iron Chancellor,” which was previously reserved for Bismarck. It emphasises that he is not acting as a Labourite but as an Englishman from first to last.—Australian Press Association.