GERMAN MINISTERS.

Waikato Times, Volume 109, Issue 18343, 1 June 1931, Page 8

GERMAN MINISTERS.

VISIT TO ENGLAND.

A DELICATE SITUATION.

•FRANCE’S ATTITUDE

(From a Correspondent.)

PARIS, April 10

The German Chancellor and tto f German Foreign Minister have accepted the British Government’s invitation to visit London. 'lt was at first thought probable that they would be there early in May, just before the meeting of the League Council, but it was officially announced later that the visit of Dr. Bruening and Dr. Curtius has now been fixed for June 5 to June 9. This is after the Geneva meetings. The British Government’s invitation has been primarily dictated by reasons of courtesy. Within the past year, and largely owing to the Naval Conference, the Foreign Ministers and important representatives of all the Great Powers Germany have visited London, and Mr Henderson, with his sure instinct for the right 'thing, decided a long time ago that as soon as possible 'that omission had got to be repaired and the reality of British goodwill towards Germany expressed in an invitation to her Chancellor and Foreign Minister to go to London as the guests of the British Government.

That is the real reason behind the visit, but if it could 'subserve the interests of disarmament and next year’s conference, then another object of Mr Henderson’s would have been achieved, for no European Minister has so set his heart on promoting the success of that undertaking. But the change of date somewhat alters the complexion of these affairs. Excitement In Paris. . . The excitement caused here by the news that Herr 'Bruening and Dr. Curtius were going to London on the invitation of the British Government has been somewhat diminished by the report that the visit has been postponed, and satisfaction is caused by reports from Berlin that there Is surprise and disappointment in Germany at the postponement of the visit. The “Temps,” in a leader on the subject, says it is easy to understand the disappointment that the postponement has caused at Berlin, which is due to the fact that the Germans had indulged in “strange illusions as to the possibility they would have had of exploiting the British invitation for the particular purpose of their policy.” It is impossible, in the opinion of the “Temps,” that the British Government can have intended the Aus-tro-German proposal for a Customs union to be the subject of Anglo-Ger-man negotiation before toeing dealt with at Geneva, the journal Is confident that Mr Henderson would not lend himself to a procedure that would be difficult to reconcile with his action in bringing the Austro-German proposal before the Council of the League of Nations. Crlticsm of IH. Briand.

The adjournment of the visit until after the Geneva meetings will certainly be claimed here as a great victory for France. Well-Informed people, however, see in it the desire of the British Government to avoid anything that may compromise M. Briand’s position in France more than it has been compromised already, partly through his own fault. For M. liriand is to a great extent responsible for the present excited slate of French public opinion. He unfortunately look it as a personal affront that the German and Austrian Governments should have agreed hi principle on a Customs union without having consulted him, as, indeed, his speech in the Senate on March 28 showed; and under the influence of his resentment authorised a violent campaign against Germany and Austria in the semi-official press. He thus aroused all the latent Chauvinism of France, and raised a storm of which he is now himself being made the victim,

In tho lobbies of the Chamber, where there were many deputies in spile ol' the fact that Parliament i* not sitting, M. Briand was severely criticised Uy deputies ’belonging to tlie Government majority, and 1 lie possibility of hi.s resignation was even talked about. His position has been further weakened :by the difficulties in (Continued in next u-l'w —"

regard to the ‘Franco-Italian NavaJ Agreement. French Hostility to England.

The postponement of the German Visit to 'England may improve his position, as his friends in the will probably attribute it to his inter-^ ! vention. But, on the other hand, Ifc will look like a concession on the part 1 of the British Government to-French. Nationalist clamour. It will not, however, any more than numerous concessions made by British Governments in the past to French policy, diminish, the feeling of hostility to England that is so widespread in France. The outcry that has been raised ini the French press about the invitation to the German Ministers is the result of a feeling that the invitation puts Germany on an equality with. France. It is .considered perfectly natural that the English and French. Foreign Ministers should meet and confer as often as they please, and then, when they have agreed on a, common policy, graciously consent to tell the German Government about iC. But that a German Chancellor and German Foreign Minister should be Invited to a private conference with members of a British Government Is regarded almost as an act of treason. Reason for Postponement.

Reuter’s Agency reams that th« German Ministers will arrive in London on the night of Friday, June, 3* spend Saturday and Sunday at Chequers, and on Monday, June 8, there' will be a banquet at the German Embassy to tbe British Government and the Corps Diplomatique, followed by a reception- The German Ministers wiil leave for Berlin on Tuesday, June 9.

The date first suggested was May 1, but it was subsequently found that the Prime Minister had engagements at that time that could not be cancelled. London then proposed a w r eek later—namely, May 8. It was not certain if this would be convenient to tho Germans, as less than a week afterwards —namely, on May 15 —Dr. Curlius had to attend a meeting of the Committee on European Union at Geneva, and three days later 'the Council of the League of Nations. the end of May was still more unsuit- jfi ablo to the German Ministers, thera was further communication with Ber* tin.