El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-07-20

81 labOriOusly established by king Ed
Z ward VII the French are naturally
g suspicious Of the English Nor has
D the fact that they are fighting side by
I side killed that suspicion. The neceS-
sity for great English armies in
D France has not been welcome neces-
sity 10 the French
> French Fear the English.
{ Two years ago i went 70 the Chan
, mel coast. passing through BoulOEne
and Calais to Dunkirk- Huge English
] camps Of thousands or soldiers were
r all along the route Of the train from
. Amiens TO beyond Calais. The French
men on the train examined the camps
closely as we passed them
Now the English are here" they
said, will we ever be able TO get
them out again2"
ming Of the war that the peace terms
would be written by the country hav-
ing the most men under arms, and
Ereuchmen used to say that they not
only had to have an army to fight
Germany. but TO keep England from
making the peace an English peace
And they used TO say that they had
TO keep a second army back TO drive
| the English out OF France at the end
Not only was there this old jealousy,
but there was new jealousy and dis
! satisfaction because for nearly two
/ years, while England was getting
|
now, the French armies bore the
I brunt Of the fighting, and for month
after month England held only 81
] miles OF the western front There
! was a time when the English Uniform
] was very unpopular in France The
/ French people thought the English
[ army was not doing enough.
French Angry at English.
] One OF the times when the English
| army was the most unpopular was
. q vi IA u"
] Nerdun in February. March and April
I 1916 The French wanted to know
why the English did not launch an Of
I fensive and take the pressure off the
/ French at Nerdun. They. complained
/ bitterly Il was said that three de-
mands had been made on the English
I TO attack and each time they had re-
fused. These reports were the com
mon gossip all through France and
[ the bitterness against the English
was intense
Again there was great bitterness
when the SOmme offensive IN July,
1916, was held up after the first five
days, and SIX weeks passed without
any material advance, while the
French waited for the English 10 get
going. II was not until the English
got started on the SOmme that there
was a real change in the feeling to-
ward them in France But since then
the English have been going steadily
Their two years Of preparation has
told its tale, and today IL is the Eng
lish who are carrying the burden Of
the fighting on the western front
And at the same time their long
campaign for the friendship of France
is bearing fruit EOr all the time they Z
were preparing the work Of their /
campaign IN France TO be the 1lrSI /
friends Of the French, a campaign I
that was looking ahead 10 after the
war
English Are Through
Nothing more industrious and
thorough has been done in this wSr
than the English campaign in France
to give publicity 10 the English ef-
fort and dispel French distrusr OF the
English and doubt OF English good I
was established in Paris as the
headquarters for French publicity,
through the efforts Of the English a
separate bureau was opened in IL for
English propaganda IN France 1t was
"a clever move on their part Instead
Of opening a bureau Of their own
they had their propaganda work done
by q French bureau with a French
man at the head Of it. the before-the-
war correspondent OF lie Temps IN
London. Ostensibly this was a French
undertaking. In reality It was con-
uOled by the British foreign office
Another big work was done for
them by Franklin-BOuillon q member
tremendously energetic man, who was
educated at Cambridge university. /
and he conceived the idea Of the war
after the war in which the war al
lance should continue as a CONNER
cial alliance against Germany. Out
OF this idea grew the scheme for in
terparllame ntarv conferences and CO.
ordinated war legislation in all the
Franklin-BOuillon took the interpar-
lamentary conferences seriously, but
the English Joined in at once. because
OF the great benefit 10 their propa-
ganda In France
No COOrdInated Legislation.
There has been no cOOrdinated war
legislation, but through the advertis-
ing Franklin BoulllOn has given TO
his scheme the English have reaped /
great benefit They have regularly
sent delegations 10 Paris from the
house OF commons and the house OF
lords every time Franklin-Bouillon
has set date for conference italy
has stood aloOL. been scoruful, and
only in May finally consented to send
a delegation, which then did its hard I
est work In securing pictures of the
duke OF AbruZzi at the French front.
But the English played their parts
most seriously.
The English are beginning TO be
looked on as the best friends Of
France. The feeling is permeztinE
the population. Their army is max
ing good. 1t is doing the fighting and
doing Il finely They have insisted
that they are the true friends Of
j France, and no rebuffs in DAYS Of mis-
fortune could dishearten them With /
the same stubbOrnness that they have
fought an uphill fight AGAINST heavy
odds on the battlefield they have !
fought an uphill fight into the hearts
and good viii Of the French. The /
French say today.
I guess We viii have to learn Eng
lish now. After this. with the English
alliance, English viii be the common
language"
French Like Americans.
All this opportunity lay at the feet
Of America The French wanted
America, preferred her to England. /
The French and American ideals are
ideals in common They have a com
mon tradition in Washington and
Lafayette. Their friendship is ira
ditional 1t is an old friendship. and |
there is a strength in its age that the I
English friendship in its neWness can
not have.
The opportunity still waits for
America. She can still have first place
with France. and it is a place worth l
having-first place in the hearts Of a
great and glorious people With that
opportunity All depends on how
America fights the war. If she fights
a real war. fights with the hearts Of
all her people, as France has fought; I
III America so fights, the war is won,
and If America wins the war there Is
nothing she cannot have from France.
Moreover France wants II TO be