ECONOMIC CONFERENCE OF THE ALLIES.

The representatives of the Allied Governments have met at Paris under the presidency of M. Clémentel, Minister of Commerce, on June 14, 15, 16, and 17, 1916, for the purpose of fulfilling the mandate given to them by the Paris Conference of March 28, 1916, of giving practical expression to their solidarity of views and interests, and of proposing to their respective Governments the appropriate measures for realising this solidarity. They declare that after forcing upon them the military contest, the Empires of Central Europe are to-day preparing, in concert with their allies, for a contest on the economic piano, which will not only survive the re-establishment of peace, but will at that moment attain its full scope and intensity. They cannot therefore conceal from themselves that the agreements which are being prepared for this purpose between their enemies have the obvious object of establishing the domination of the latter over the production and the markets of the whole world and of imposing on other countries an intolerable yoke. In face of so grave a peril the representatives of the Allied Governments consider that it has become their duty, on grounds of necessary and legitimate defence, to adopt and realise from now onward all the measures requisite on the one hand to secure for themselves and for the whole of the markets of neutral countries full economic independence and respect for sound commercial practice, and on the other hand to facilitate the organisation on a permanent basis of their economic alliance.