view raw text
CHAMBERLAIN VS. LABORITES Englands Prime Minister Battles Obstruction Tactics of Opponents — Demanding More Pay. LONDON, England, May 16.— Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, battling against obstruction tactics of the laborite opposition, today concentrated on pushing the conscription bill through parliament by Friday, while diplomatic negotiations to bring Russia into the "stop-Hitler" front on Britains terms continued. Chamberlain plans to keep debate on conscription down to a minimum in the House of Commons on Wednesday. The laborites will demand greater pay for militiamen than the one shilling about twenty-five cents a day now planned. While the government is expected to make some concession, authorities are believed to be opposed to paying conscripts the two shillings daily received by soldiers in the regular army. Negotiations for Russian guarantees for Poland and Rumania are expected to reach a decisive point when Foreign Minister Lord Halifax and Vladimir Potemkin, Soviet foreign vice-comissar meet at Geneva, a week from today. This matter and the possibility of French concessions to Italy probably were discussed during the week-end visit in London of Foreign Minister Georges Bonnet of France. Premier Mussolinis Turin speech, in the opinion of The Times, "although much of it is in a challenging tone is not felt generally to leave European relations in a worse condition than before."