American Paper Blows Gaff

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 466, 22 September 1928, Page 9

American Paper Blows Gaff

ANGLO-FRENCH COMPROMISE British Explanation of Long Mystery POWERS’ COMMENTS AWAITED British Official Wireless Received noon. RUGBY, Friday. AN American newspaper lias published what purports to be the text of a letter from the French Foreign Office to the French Diplomatic. Mission, containing the terms of the Anglo-French naval compromise. Publication of the compromise has been postponed, pending the receipt from the chief naval Powers to whom it had been communicated, of their comments upon it as a possible basis for discussion at the Preparatory Conference on Disarmament.

Contrary to rumours continually repeated in some quartgrs, the full terms, and not only part of them, were communicated to the United States, the Japanese and Italian Governments some weeks ago. It is understood that the Japanese and Italian Governments have notified Paris and London that they are disposed to be favourably impressed by the proposals as a basis for discussion, but in the absence of a reply from Washington, publication of the proposals has been delayed in accordance with the usual procedure in such cases. Unfortunately, the normal procedure in this instance h:|? provoked an unprecedented crop of rumours, which entirely misinterpreted the purpose, extent and aim of the compromise. The true facts are that progress at the Preparatory Commission for the Disarmament Conference had been for a long period delayed by differences of view on the systems of reckoning naval tonnage, the leading protagonists being the British and French representatives. Broadly stated, Britain favoured the calculation by naval categories, and the French by fixation of global amounts, divisible

according to the individual desires of the Powers concerned. As the result of private conversations the British and French reached a compromise, which would enable progress to be resumed in the Preparatory Commission, provided always that the other chief naval Powers accepted it. It was promptly communicated in full to the other Powers affected, it having been explicitly stated by Lord Cushendun, the acting Foreign Secretary, and other Ministers, that in the event of the proposals not proving acceptable to them, the compromise would automatically cease to have importance, in which event the search for agreement would have to be resumed in the Preparatory Commission, along other lines. British official circles naturally cannot comment on the authenticity or otherwise of a document belonging to another Power, which the American newspaper publishes, although (he terms reproduced of the naval compromise are accurate, except for a reference to the tonnage of ocean-going submarines.

Such vessels are reckoned as ijeepwater craft when they exceed 600 and are not 6,000 tons, as stated in the American report.