HEAVY GLOOM

Stratford Evening Post, Volume IV, Issue 222, 31 August 1936, Page 3

HEAVY GLOOM

Pacific Relations Conference Closes. v'.V. NO FORMULA FOR PEACE. '» Press Association-—Copyright. Yosemite, Aug. 28. The final session of the conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations ended in a spirit of heavy gloom to-day with the delegates seemingly reaching a dead end to any effective formula to ensure peace in the Pacific area. A belated British. proposal for a regional security pact, already held to be impracticable by the United States and I others, developed into a maze of coni flicting interests to-day. On the one 'hand the Japanese insisted that any new pact must, recognise her status quo and the 1 position, of , the Asiatic mainland, while, the Chinese made as conditions d"f" their approval the withdrawal of Japan from North China and Manchuria. This, discussion caused Sir Kenneth Wigrarii to threaten that if a BritishJapanese naval race resulted it might be necessary to raise the present 5-3 ratio over Japan to 2-1. Some optimistic viewpoints were : forthcoming, notably from H. Sarraut < (France), who said the nine-Power ! treaty could yet be made effective by ! adding sanctions, and from Mr. A. V. j Alexander, who appealed to America to ' drop its isolationism and come into the vvprld system of collective security as 1 an.aid, to world peace. ..- !