Japan's delegates will probably ba content to play a minor role, at least in the earlier stages, at International Customs Conference being convened in Geneva to-day under auspices of the League of Nations. a 'The conference, called to consider a customs truce of two three years, is considered here to 98 largely a European affair, since the United States and other' American nations will not be represented, The Jconference is preliminary to a second. similar gathering which will consider a general reduction of tariffs Letween the participating nations, It is understood that about 28 ta 80 nations are being represented at, the gathering, including all the European Powers except Albania, Cuba is the only non-European nas tion except' Japan to participate without qualification, Brazil and Santo Domingo are represented by, observers, 4 Tie fact that many of the nation of the British Commonwealth, me cluding South Africa, Australia, Egypt, India and New Zealand, have refused to participate in the meeting has caused some specula tion here, as the conference orginlly was proposed by England, which is expected to take a dominating dle in the discussions.
A considerable element in Japan has worked for a long period in an nut the country on a free but the movement never tained great proportions bien Japan's principal foreign are in countries, such as the United States, which follow a Press. 2 fixed high tariff policy—United
Important Discussions, Geneva, Feb. 17.
the opening of the Tarif Truce (Conference to-day under the wegis of the League of Nations, the Shairman, Count Moltke, empha the importance of the' discuss to the economic reconstruction Europe and the world, A "feisly satisfactory issue" to the Conference, which will last from two to three weeks, is expected by the British delegation, who issued a statement to-day correcting misapprehensions that the Com ference implied a "bargain" about tariffs. They state that on the other hand the discussions will ba solely concerned with fixing tariff holiday and so will pave the way for later negotiations for the removal of trade barriers.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.