HC Deb 04 November 1929 vol 231 cc630-1W
Mr. MANDER

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs why the British delegate at the Council Meeting of the League of Nations at Geneva in September supported the holding of the conference on the treatment of foreigners at Paris at an extra cost of 70,000 gold francs; and whether it is the policy of the Government that all conferences held under the auspices of the League should take place at Geneva in the interests of economy, efficiency, and impartiality?

Mr. HENDERSON

A number of foreign States who desired to appoint their diplomatic representatives at Paris as delegates intimated that they could not arrange to take part at the conference if it were held at Geneva. In view of the importance of securing the participation of the largest possible number of States, the British representative raised no objection to the proposal that the conference should be held in Paris. It the absence of any special circumstance rendering it desirable to make an exception, His Majesty's Government favour Geneva as the seat of conferences held under the auspices of the League.