The New York herald., 1922-07-13
Refuse Definite Answers in
Regard to Property
and Debts.
DEMAND CREDITS FIRST
Only Last Rites Remain to Be
Held Is Opinion of the
Delegates.


Special Gable to THE New York HERALD
Copyright, 1919. By THE New YoRK HERALD.
THE HAGUE. July 1.-THE confer
ence on Russian problems is expected
to break up tomorrow, following two
stormy sessions to-day and an abso-
lutte deadlock between the Russian and
the non Russian groups on the SUBJ
war debts and the restitution Of for
eign property.
Both sides have announced that 1t Is
hopeless to continue as there is no
hope of reaching an agreement.
Sir Philip Lloyd Greame, president
of the Commission on Property. tossed
the first bombshell to-day, which Gre
ated more excitement than The Hague
has known for long time. During
the session of his commission this
morning he said:
THE Russian proposition is totally
unacceptable. It is waste Of time to
continue" M. Alphand. presiding at
session of the Debts Commission this
afternoon. gave expression to similar
view.
Tonight Maxim Litvinof informed
THE New YORK HERALD correspondent
that the position was hopeless the nom
Russians being determined to break up
the conference after maneuvering the
Russians into an angle where the Boil
sheviki could be blamed for the collapse
Of the conference.
Funeral, service To-day.
Litvinoff said the Russians would not
yield. Hence the meeting tomorrow will
be sort pf religious ceremony over the
grave. and probably will be final. Pre-
viously." he added "the Bolsheviki
saved the situation by yielding. but
am convinced they cannot yield now.
and the conference is killed.
Sir Philips statement was clear and
strong, but spoken with the emotion OF
judge pronouncing sentence of death.
II have examined" he said, "the list Of
properties Litvinoft handed over at the
last meeting. / understand 1t is pre-
liminary list, but II 1T is not preliminary
but final should say at once. on behalf
of the non-Russian section of. the COM
mission that 1t is totally unacceptable.
IN. Litvinoff's list contains but a
small percentage of foreign properties
OF any kind. The proportion of property
to be returned is negligible. Whole
branches are omitted. including textile.
coal. distributing and utility services.
If this is Russia's last word on property
to be returned to foreign nationals, 1t
touches only the fringe Of the question
and any argument upon such basis Is
quite useless II it cannot satisfy the rea-
sonable and just claims Of foreigners.
1T shows that Russia really did not
mean to undertake the reconstruction
OF her industries upon broad scale by
bringing back the necessary persons for
that reconstruction.
People Demand Conditions.
Before people return they must
know certain conditions, the length of
the term for which the properties are
held. whether the financial or other OBJ
legations or the concessionnaires corre-
spond to the obligations in the original
title, II the concessionaries are free to
assign. bequeath ana dispose. whether
they are free in the control and man.
agement OF the property, what are their
rights and facilities as compared with
rights previously enjoyed They must
also know whether their personnel are
free or arbitrary Interference and adj
verse discrimination. to what extent
they are free to import foreign person.
mel. II they are free to import the raw
material and goods necessary for busi-
ness. II they are free to export products
and other things acquired In the course
OF business. and what shall be import
and export duties.
What about general equality as be-
tween various persons? Could the con-
cessionnaires dispose of products IN
Russia? What facilities are there for
food. fuel. housing, raw material. trans
port and communications? Would
facilities be given to Soviet enterprises
that were not given to others? Will
concessonnaires have full banking
credit and the facilities necessary for
business? What kind OF taxat'on--a
share in the profits. percentage Of the
output. or otherwise? What about COM
pensation for loss or damage: and Is
the proprietor immune to confiscation?
What Is the position of the trade unions
on compulsory membership and non-
interference with managements? The
concessionnaires wanl absolute security
before they begin. they want to know
what properties are to be returned and
what retained, and what is to be the
compensation for properties retained.
On these matters we must be informed
In the clearest and most rapid manner
These are absolutely vital considera-
tions."
Litvfn0n RepIies.