LEAGUE AWAITED

Taranaki Daily News, 31 August 1935, Page 7

LEAGUE AWAITED

FATE OF ABYSSINIA diplomatic discussions ASPIRATIONS OF ITALY POWERS OFFER THE WAY WILL ITALIANS ACCEPT? British Wireless. Rugby, Aug. 29. Mr. R. A. Eden, Minister in charge of League of Nations Affairs, will leave for the Geneva meeting on Monday, thus allowing time for private discussions with the other delegates to the League Council meeting before the session opens on Wednesday. The procedure to be followed at Geneva is meanwhile receiving careful study, and satisfaction is expressed in the formal assurance contained in the commupique issued yesterday at the close of the meeting of the Italian Cabinet at Bolzano that at the Council meeting the Italiap Government will present a declaration defining its position regarding the Abyssinian problem and a memorandum dealing with the history of the relations between Italy - and Abyssinia. The closest consideration of these documents is assured. The suggestions made by the British and French Governments at the Paris conversations in an effort to . effect a settlement of the dispute, which were based on the accepted principles of the maintenance of the independence and integrity of Abyssinia and of the “open door,” offered wide opportunities for economic development by Italy l and for Italian association in the work of colonisation in Africa. . ' Both at Paris and London the opinion is strongly held that these proposals deserved more serious consideration than they received from the Italians, and that members of the League Council will regard them as offering an opportunity for legitimate Italian aspirations in Abyssinia being met. NEEDS RECOGNISED. It is expected that early in the proceedings at Geneva a report will be made on these proposals. It is believed that they reconcile -he recognised legitimate needs of Italy . and the known needs of the Abyssinian Government for expert assistance and advice with treaty obligations and rights. Mr. Eden, who on August 3. undertook to inform the Council at its next meeting of the result of the Paris talks,, is understood to have been considering the terms of this report before settling the final form, on which he will certainly wish to consult with M.. Laval, with whom he has been closely associated in all the attempts of the last few months at Geneva and elsewhere to facilitate a peaceful outcome from the Italo-Abys-sinian tension, as well as at the recent Paris meeting. ... Mr. Stanley Baldwin, who rejoined Mrs. Baldwin at Aix-les-Bains to complete his holiday after the special Cabinet meeting last Thursday, expects to leave there on Wednesday and to reach London to-day week. The period of the Prime Minister’s stay abroad has been indeterminate and the decision to curtail it, which was communicated to his colleagues in. London only this afternoon, was no doubt prompted by the wish to be in closer touch with public business during the next few weeks. He will be at Downing Street during the forthcoming session Of the League of Nations Assembly, for part of which Sit Samuel Hoare, Foreign Secretary, will be absent from the Foreign Office at the head of the British delegation at Geneva when the League Council meets. The Observatore Romano complains that the Pope’s speech against war has been reported by the Italian Press in four brief extracts, not giving the full meaning and omitting passages in Which he condemned the right of self-defence if carried to excess.