NO CESSION

Taranaki Daily News, 31 October 1935, Page 5

NO CESSION

TERMS OF PEACE ABYSSINIANS’ STAND TROOPS MUST WITHDRAW NO BASIS DISCOVERED ITALIANS’ OFFER FAILS By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. London, Oct. 29. Pessimism at Rome and determination in Abyssinia are the mornings reaction on the eve of Geneva’s resumption of the sanctions procedure. Official circles at Rome lament Britain’s failure to respond to the Libya gesture by removing even one battleship. The Italians draw comfort from Mr. Stanley Baldwin’s Wolverhampton assurance that there is no question o blockading Italy. The implementation of League sanctions is held to defer the chance of an agreed settlement. It is asserted that the sanctions will have no appreciable effect on Italy, but the. question of national pride cannot be dismissed. Italy will not negotiate with sanctions hanging over her. Mr. Tekla Hawariat, former Abyssinian League delegate, who is to command the Ethiopian armies, has arrived at Djibouti. He says that Abyssinia will not consider any diplomatic settlement until every Italian soldier is withdrawn. I “would be a mistake to assume the acceptance of any cession of territory to Italy, he says. ’ It is understood at London that the proposals which emerged during the recent Franco-Italian diplomatic exchanges and which might have provided a basis for conciliation have been the subject of the closest examination at London from the point of view of determining whether they offered any hope of fulfilling the conditions repeatedly stated by the British Government as in its view essential—that they should be in consonance with the spirit of the League Covenant and acceptable to Ethiopia as well as to Italy. BRITAIN AND FRANCE AGREED. These conditions are a matter of common agreement between the French and British Governments, and the recent proposals, which have also been submitted to a joint study by British and French technical experts at Paris, are not regarded as conforming to these essential requirements. The possible terms for an agreed settlement, such as the French and British Governments would feel able to bring to the notice of the League as suitable- fox recommendation to the parties to the dispute, have therefore not emerged from the recent exchanges, and stories in circulation connecting the Foreign Secretary’s visit to Geneva with such possibilities may be completely discounted. Sir Samuel Hoare’s decision implies the desire of the Government to put the full weight behind the League Powers in establishing a loyal and united effort to make effective action under th< Covenant on behalf of peace and to shorten the war between Italy and Abyssinia. A Geneva message says that endorsements of sanctions are still arriving and many more are expected in the next 48 hours. Apart from Austria, Hungary and Albania, which previously announced their non-co-operation, the only European State which has not replied concerning any sanction is Portugal, while most of the others thus far failing to answer are the South American States. An Ottawa message says that the Prime Minister, Mr. W. L. Mackenzie King, announced that immediate steps would be taken by the Canadian Government to secure the effective application of economic sanctions against Italy as proposed by the co-ordinating committee of the League of Nations.