DEBTS AND REPARATIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21569, 15 February 1932, Page 7

DEBTS AND REPARATIONS

CONFERENCE ARRANGED GENEVA, February 12. (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) Sir John Simon and M. Tardieu have arranged the Reparations Conference for June. A previous cablegram read as follows: —The Paris correspondent of The Times says: “The draft of the FrancoBritish reparations and war debts agreement has been completed, the concluding stage being reached after a conference between M. Laval and Lord Tyrrell (British Ambassador). The exact text of the agreement will not be published until after Sir John Simon approves of it, but it is believed that the two Governments agree to pursue a joint course of action for a final settlement of reparation and debt problems at the Lausanne Conference in June.” PLAN FOR PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. LONDON, February 13. (Received Feb. 14, at 5.5 p.m.) The Daily Herald’s Geneva correspondent states that behind the announcement of the holding of the Reparations Conference in June lies a definite plan for a permanent settlement. It is believed that the word “ reparations,” so hateful to the Germans, will be abolished. If conditional payments are abandoned, in view of Germany’s inability to pay them, unconditional payment will be reduced and made variable yearly. According to “ Prosperity Index,” compared with the present £30,000,000 a year, a new starting point might bo between £10,000,000 and £20,000,000. Proposals are now being submitted to the other Powers.