VIEWS IN FRANCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 January 1922, Page 5

VIEWS IN FRANCE.

FEELING OF DOUBT. A POLITICAL CRISIS. PREMIER OPPOSED. By Telegraph.—Press Assn—copyright. Received Jan. 12, 7.25 p.m, Cannes, Jan. 11. M. Briand has left for Paris to report to the Chamber on the AngloFrench pact. He returns to Cannes on Friday. Prior to his departure M. Briand stated that he was certain the Chamber would accept the pact. Some of the correspondents dec’are M. Briand’s departure is indicative of the difficulties of the Premiers, who are dependent on Parliamentary majorities when conducting negotiations instead of diplomatists. They point out that if M. Briand is defied in the Chamber all tne negotiations hitherto will come to nought.

The crisis in Paris is so serious that it is reported as possible that M. Millierand, with M. Briand’s approval, may dissolve Parliament for a general election. According to the Morning Post’s Paris correspondent Cabinet yesterday unanimously agreed that France cannot consent to any reduction in reparations due from Germany, the abandonment of the left bank of the Rhine or the right to apply the military and economic sanctions if circumstances demand it. It is understood insistence on this decision decided M. Briand to return.

Signor Benomi has written to Mr. Lloyd George formally requesting Italy’s inclusion in the pact, and Belgium has made a similar application. Mr. Lloyd George states that the first pact will be solely between Britain and France, whose interests are intimately bound together, but it will serve as a basis which may be completed later by admitting Belgium and Italy. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

PACT FOR TEN YEARS. SOME DIFFICULTY ANTICIPATED. . Received Jan. 12, 5.5 p.m. London, Jan. 11. The Australian Press* Association understands that the situation at Cannes is viewed in authoritative circles with considerable anxiety. The . AngloFrench pact drafted is a brief and simple document on broad, general lines with a currency of ten years.

The present trouble lies, however, in the conditions, which, though unformulated, have been the subject of conversations between Mr. Lloyd George and M. Briand. While noting has been done to weaken the defensive measures provided under the Versailles Treaty conditions it is suggested to imply a desire on Britain’s part for some modifications of France’s policy. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

OPPOSITION TO PACT. ANXIOUS SITUATION. Paris, Jan. 11. Political circles are excited and it is feared a political crisis is in the air. According to the Echo de Paris, yesterday’s meeting of Cabinet was stormy. A request was sent to M. Briand that he should not pledge himself on any matter without reference to Cabinet. Opinions in the lobby and among the deputies generally agreed that the Cannes conference was pursuing an unsatisfactory course. The Council of Ministers, on being asked by the president of the Council to give an" opinion on the projected agreement at Cannes, expressed itself in a sense altogether opposed to M. Briand. This opinion was communicated to. M. Briand, and it is probable the various problems will have to be threshed out again.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

SPANISH INTERESTS INVOLVED. Paris, Jan. 11. The latest rock encountered by the Entente is Tangiers, in which connection, according to the Cannes correspondent of the Temps, Britain has adopted the Spanish viewpoint and seeks to make France accept it. The paper adds that Britain insists on linking this problem with the pact, from which is concludes matters are not going too smoothly. It is pointed out that Spain desires the incorporation of Tangiers in the Spanish Moroccan zone. France maintains that Tangiers should be withdrawn from Spanish influence and placed under special administration. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.

M. BRIAND REPLIES TO ATTACKS. London, Jan. 11. Interviewed by French journalists, M. Briand spiritedly replied to the Press attacks on the proposed Anglo-French guarantee agreement. He emphatically repudiated the idea that France was asked to make sacrifices in regard to her army of Rhine occupation as the price of Britain’s pledge to help her in the event of an unwarranted attack by Germany, but suggested that when an agreement was made the two Admiralties might consult together and regulate the utilisation of their respective naval forces. M. Briand indicated that he desired to go further towards an alliance than the pact they were now discussing, but Mr. Lloyd George was unwilling. In regard to the reparations. M. Briand asserted that France would not receive a centime less in 1922 than was due to her under the London agreement. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn.