DISARMAMENT.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17169, 28 March 1927, Page 5

DISARMAMENT.

-Press As'Sociation

.(Australian and N.Z. Press Association.)

/ WILL RUSSIA GOME IN? 7

'(Gable—

— ■Oonyriff'ht.) I

LONDON,. March 25. J At the preparatory Disarmament j Conference at Geneva, Viscount Cecil stressed the fact that the Bri- ' tish army was different from the j Continental armies, heing purely a i defensive force composed of volun- J teers. The British Government ■ therefore had no interest in limit- j ing land forces, its only aiin was 1 to assist in establishing a system j adaptable to other States. Well-informed circles consider , Russia's f>articipation in the plen- 1 ary conferences as a practical cer- J tainty in view of M. Mottas assurance that if Russo-Swiss relations | cannot be restored Switzerland v/ill j not consider it an affront if the . conference is held outside Geneva. The French, Poles, Cz'echoslovaks, .Tugo-Slavians and Baltic States rega'rd Soviet participation as imperative; otherwise a treaty would be futile. i