MEDITERRANEAN PIRACY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 198, 7 September 1937, Page 7

MEDITERRANEAN PIRACY

— Fress Assn.-

Conference on Submarine Menace POWERS INVITED

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(Received 7, 8.45 a.m.) LONDON, Sept, 6. The diplomatic correspondent of The Times says that Italy and five Mediterranean neighbours have been invite'd to the Mediterranean conference owing to their geographicai and strategie positions and also becanse they sigued the Submarine Convention of 1936. I3y that agreement they promised that submarines would eoni'orm to the ruies governiiig surface vessela and especialiy would not sink or damage a merchantinau without ensuring the safety of the passengers and crew. This code the Mediterranean pirates have flouted. The Black Sea Powers were invited because the Dardanelles is their threshold to the Mediterranean — their main or sole highway. Germany was invited for many " reasons, including her participation in the control scheme, and also because she has been a victim of Mediterranean lawlessness. A Paris message says that the extension of the conference to double the number of countries France originally proposed lessens, in the French opinion, ' the ehances of success. The Daily Telegraph 's Rome correspondent says Mussolini will undoubtedly acccpt the invitation despite Italian criticism over the inclusion of Russia, owing to the allegation that she is aiding the Spanish Government. Italy could not stand aloof from a meeting regarding the sea in whieh she claiins to be doniinant.