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Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 205, 15 September 1937, Page 5

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-Press Assn.—

ANTI-PIRACY PLAN Italian RepIySent; TermsNot Disclosed MEDITERRANEAN PATROL

(By Telegraph-

-Copyright.) ■

(Eeceived 15, 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 14. The delegates to the Nyon conference signed in alphabetical order the agreement to patrol the Mediterranean as a means of combating submarine piracy. In addition to the details announced already# England and France will operate as far as tlie entrance to tho Dardanelles. Participants with a Mediterranean seaboard are pledged to furnish the necessary assistance to tho operating fleets. M. Delbos, French Minister of Foreign Affairs, who presided over the conference, said that the agreement would ensure security in the Mediterranean. M. Litvinoff (Bussia) said that the British and French responsibility for the entire Mediterranean instead of the patrol area division into zones overcame Bussia 's objections, but he regretted that Spanish Government sliips were excluded from the proteetion agreement. Italy's reply to the invitation to cooperate in the patrol have been delivered, but the contents are not disclosed. The successful conclusion of the Nyon conference by the signature of the plan is welcomed in London as — in the word3 of M. Delbos at the conference—1 ! '■ putting an end to a grave situation" (says a supplementary British Official Wirelegs message). British comment likewise agrees with M, Delbos' estimate that the accord is praptical und effeetive. The British Foreign Secretary, Mr Anthpny Eden, said: "I hope that our work will be approved by the world, There is nothing we should welcpmo more than the close collaboration pf all interpsted nations, whether they were represented here or uot, in execution of our decisions. ' ' The Admiralty is discussing the details of tho anti-submarine patrol with Sir Dudley Pound, Conimander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean Fleet, says the naval correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. The British patrol will be 1400 miles long, and 36 vessels have been allocated thereto. They will use up fuel estimated to cost £200 per week per destroyer, even steaming at an economical speed. The dispatch of stopes will bp a heavy item. The extra charge on the Navy Estimates may amount to £1250 a week. Sliips continually moving, naturally, will suffer abnormal wear and tear, The total cost of the control may be around £350,000. The Daily Telegraph says: "It is much to be desired that all the great European Powers should 'join in this eff-ort. The more nations share in it, the more will be its value to the peace and prosperity of all." The Daily Herald praises the conference for the speed with which it has produced a plan.