PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

Waikato Times, Volume 92, Issue 14255, 5 January 1920, Page 5

PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

ANOTHER HITCH ANNOUNCED. DELAY IN RATIFICATION. Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn. Received January 5, 1.45 a.m. LONDON, Jan. 3. It is understood that the Peace Conference reassembly is postponed till Januarv 9. It is unlikely that the ratification will be exchanged before the middle of January, as it is rumoured in Paris that some hitch has occurred. AMERICAN ACTION CRITICISED. ASSENT WITH RESERVATIONS. PREFERABLE TO A DIVISION. (Australian, N.Z. and Reuter.) Received January 5, 9.10 a.m. LONDON, Jan. 3. In his speech at Leeds, Lord Robert Cecil dealt with the attitude of America towards the Peace Treaty. He emphasised that Britain wanted the assent, not of one party in America, but of the whole of America. He would rather have assent, subject to reservation, by the whole of the important opinion of America, than a full and complete assent achieved by a deep division of American opinion. The objection to the Dominions' votes was based on an entire misunderstanding. In international matters it was not numbers that counted, but weight, and the object of the Dominions' votes was not to enable them to support on every occasion the British view, but rather to enable them to express their views or differences they might have with Britain, and ?et full weight, to which they were entitled. The subject had been used to create toad blood between Britain and the United States by the enemies of both countries.