The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-07-22
HAGUE PARLEY
IS CLOTHED
IN MYSTERY
Conference Ends in
Uncertain Manner
When Russians OBJ
.iect to Soviet Pro-
posals Door Still
Left Open

pOSaIS DOOf DJil]
Left Open
The Hague. July 1s,-aIystery
marked the Hague proceedings to-
dag and the conference ended IT
an uncertain. manner After Maxim
Litivincff. head Of the Soviet dele
cation. had proposed to submit te
Moscow recommendation to ac'
knowledge pre-war debts and ad-
nit the. general principle Of com
pensation for foreign propert!
there was temporary effort on the
part of the non-Russian delegates
to create the impression that the
Russians had yielded materially.
When the non Russian delegates
met in the afternoon. however. to
examine Litvinoff's proposals fur
.ther there was decided objection te
submitting these proposals to the
various governments and an un-
willingness to wait for seven days
as N. Litvinoff had suggested, fol-
Moscow's action Oh the recommen'
dation.
One Of the results Of this meet
ing was the adoption Of a cryptic
resolution introduced by Baror
Avezzano. Italy. which was so puz-
zl:ng that nobody but the delegates
and probably not all of them. could
understand it. Then the non-Rus-
sian delegates decided to hold
final plenary meeting at 3 p. m
tomorrow to receive the reports o1
the three subcommissions and
bring the conference to a hna
close.
The Avezzano resolution. dis
cussing Litvinoff's proposal. does
not consider it a basis for ar
agreement. Translated from the
language of the experts into plalr
English this statement is evidentl,
Intended to mean that the leading
delegations at The Hague are not
inclined 10 submit the Russian pro.
posal to their governments ano
| have rejected Litvinoffs suggestion
OF a weeks. delay to hear iron
Moscow.
The resolution concluded with
the statement that Litivinoff's dec
laration can help. to create a favor
able atmosphere for future nego.
tiations. In ether words, the door
is left open.
When NJ. Litvinof and his asso'
ciates learned of the action Of the
Europeans they declared that ths
Russian declaration was automatl.
cally Withdrawn by the failure Of
the other delegates to wait sever
DAYS for Moscow's action and that
the Russians now felt free to make
separate agreements with the va
rious governments as occasion
might offer. Collective bargaining
never appealed strongly to the
Moscow government. according te
! Litvinoff. and now the coast was
clear for dealing with indivdlua
nations.
The impression is general to-
night that the experts got beyono
their depths and the various gov
i'ernments decided it was best te
: bring the conference to close be.
fore further political complication
arose. While the delegates con,
,, stantly stated that the conference
was an economic and financial af,
! fair. it was clear from its incep'
ton that it was little less politica
than Genoa. The French and Bel
gian delegates had favored con.
Guiding it for the past fortnight.
The Russians are not making
any preparations tonight for theil
departure, and the conference has
! been reported ended so often thai
there seemingly is an unwilling
ness to believe that the temporary
revival brought about by Litvinof
toda- may not be repeated.
None of the delegates apparently
! wish to appear as opposing an,
/ legitimate project for the small
! European investors to get then
money back. AT the same time
they pointed ottt what they termed
the grave Danger to the social gov,
ernment system OF Europe. whlcf
they deemed an inevitable accom-
spaniment OF the Russian project L
put into operation. They contend
ed that it offered untold opportuni-
+ ties for the dissemination of Bol:
sherik propaganda because i
] meant that every small bondholdel
! in Europe henceforth would have
a direct interest in the welfare o
] the Soviet government and woult
be put into direct communication
payment would lie in the perpetU
with it. Their hope of eventua
alton of the Soviet regime.