Evening star., 1924-07-05
RIFT OVER AGENDA
MAY DELAY PARLEY
Herriot Faces Ministerial
Crisis as Result of Mac
DonaId's Proposals.
BERLIN DEFAULT is ISSUE
French Chamber Believed Unwill-
ing to Let World Court or League
Decide Question.
BERLIN DEFAULT is ISSUE
By the Associated Press.


PARIS, July 5.-"The moral pact Of
continuous collaboration" which
Premier Herriot announced he had
brought back from his Chequers
Court conference with the British
prime minister seems to be in a bad
way. The most serious point of diff
erence between the British and
French viewpoints concerns the iden-
tity of the body which is to decide
when Germany shall have defau ulted
in her engagements
The French newspapers refuse to
admit that the proposals of the
Dawes plan are outside the Versailles
treaty and declare that the British
intention to replace the reparatior
commission by another body is un-
justified, as Is the British argument
that the French cling to the repara-
tion commission because they con-
troll It.
May Delay Conference.
Some of the opposition papers ques-
tion the possibility now of holding
the proposed interallied conference
on July 16.
Before committees of the chamber
Of duties yesterday former Premier
BRAND suggested that NJ. Herriot try
to resume negotiations for signature
of guaranty pact which Briand
undertook at Cannes. The premier
replied that he had made pressing
efforts in that direction with Prime
Minister Macdonald, but that British
In
military agreement.
The fact that Great Britain and
France are as far apart as ever on
the essential features of the repara-
tion question was brought out by a
controversy over the text of the
memorandum sent by the British
foreign Office to its amba ssadors with
the invitation to the forthcoming al
lied conference in London.
High Hopes Dashed.
The high hopes entertained by sup
porters of Premier Herriot when he
returned from Chequers, have given
way to pessimism since the receipt OF
a message from Prime Minister Nc
Donald of England, which makes ii
clear that while the suggestions con-
tanned in the memorandum are no,
supposed to represent any agreement
between the allies. they do represent
the British views.
A majority of observers in parlia.
mentary circles are of the opinion
| that an agreement with Great Britain
! cannot be reached unless Mr.. Nc
Donald abandons the idea of handing
over to the world court the prerroga'
tive OF the reparation commission OF
deciding when Germany shall have
defaulted in the execution of the
The program for the allied con.
ference. as Mr.. Macdonald has ex.
planned it to the countries which
have been invited to send delegates
has caused great surprise in Paris gen
orally, and some CONSERVATION in gov
ernment circles.
Herriot In Astounded.
NJ. Herriot, who returned from
Chequers reassured as to the British
attitude on questions in which French
interests were paramount. is described
by friends as having been taken of
his feet by the British premier's yer
sion Of the agenda for the conference
The first impression was that thu
reports purporting to give a summar,
of the agenda were premature ant
misleading. M. Her-iot wac So sur
prised that he Immediately asked tn,
British embassy here to confirm tn,
reports. and was amaxed.to find tina
the version on which the opposition
press commented severely was correct
The official opinion of the program
outlined by the. British prime minis
| ter is that 1t amounts to nothing les
than throwing the entire reparatiol
question into the league OF nation
| through the world court.
Fffn Against Proposals.
Those close to the French premie
| were outspoken in the opinion tha
as much as NJ. Herriot desires to com
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