MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

Hokitika Guardian, 22 January 1925, Page 1

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS

tUfITK A'LIAN AND N.JI. MP'.H ASSOCIATION TOBACCO PROFITS. LONDON, Tan. 21. A sensational rise in iho profits from tobacco lias been disclosed by the a.nlionnccnient that the dividend of the Imperial Tobacco Company for 1024. totals 221 per cent.. requiring 7| millions sterling for payment. Half a million sterling lias been placed in reserve; a. quarter of a million goes to 11 io pension fund, and half a million is carried forward. The share bonuses since 1910 have amounted to 1845 1-T per cent., totalling thirteen millions sterling of free gift capital, which i.s also participating in the tax-free dividend. NO PROTOCOL CONFERENCE. LONDON. January 20. The Colonial Office, in a communique announces that the correspondence with the Governments of the Dominions and India regarding the possibility of

arranging a special Imperial (onleieiico In .March to discuss questions arising out of the Geneva Protocol for the pacific settlement of disputes indicates that the exigencies of Parliament, and otlioY business will render impossible a representative meeting in London. In the circumstances, the only possible course seems to be to endeavour by correspondence to arrive at a common conclusion on the issues involved. The, Austral in Pre-s Association says it is understood that a conference of sorts was possible, hut not one sufficiently representative to satisfy the Government. Probably only two Dominion Frontiers would have been able to attend. Should correspondence prove an unsatisfactory method ol conferring, the Government will probably defer the matter till the next Imperial Conference.

FRANCE AND VATICAN. PARIS. January 20. In the course of a debate on foreign affairs ill the Chamber, AI. Ilerriot. Premier, discussing the withdrawal of the French Embassy from the Vatican, declared that the Pope, while he was a temporal sovereign, had a. right to ambassadors. but as a spiritual sovereign, charged with the spread of Christian doctrines throughout the world, he was not depreciated through being excluded from the tortuous paths of diplomacy. Franco, he said, always had taken care to exclude the Church from internal affairs. It is rumoured in the lobbies, however. that AI. Ilerriot will probably eventually adopt a compromise by recalling the Ambassador and leaving a Charge <V Affaires in contact with the Holy Bee. RCSBIA AND .JAPAN. AfOSCOW. January 20. A Russo-Japanese Treaty has been signed at Pekin. PEKIN, January 21. The Chinese Foreign Office has sent notes to the Japanese Legation and the Russian Embassy, stating the Chinese Government learns that the conclusion of the Russo-Japanese agreement is impending The Chinese Government warns Russia and Japan that if this agreement embraces Chinese interests it will not be recognised, unless the approval of the Chinese Government is first obtained.