CONFERENCE OPENS AT THE HAGUE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18961, 7 January 1930, Page 1

CONFERENCE OPENS AT THE HAGUE.

(United Press Assn.—By Electrio Telegraph.—Copyright.) RUGBY, January 4. The Hague Conference opened quietly yesterday with a short public session. This was followed by a meeting in private. The Belgian Prime Minister, M. Henri Jaspar, who presided over the public proceedings, made a short speech expressing gratitude to the Queen of the Netherlands for the hospitality extended to the conference. He paid a tribute to the memory of the late Dr Stresemann, and extended a greeting to the new arrivals at the conference. The private session was devoted to questions of procedure. There is to be one financial committee on German reparations, to be presided over by M. Jaspar: a second financial committee on non-German reparations, to be presided over by M. Louis Loucheur, and a third informal committee of treasury experts, which will meet immediately to attempt to disassociate from the remainder of the Young Plan those features which threaten to be incapacitated in the event of failure to reach agreement between Hungary and Bulgaria over the questions in dispute. There is no political committee on this occasion as no political problems require discussion. The Australian and New Zealand delegations have begun negotiations with the Germans regarding German property which Australia and New Zealand confiscated during the war. If not concluded here, the negotiations will be continued in Berlin.