Evening star., 1919-03-09

two great problems before the
Paris conference.-the fixing of
tthe western and of the eastern from
tiers of Germany. The decision with
sregard to these frontiers means, in
decision that the Paris conference can
take, because it means on the one
side the giving of security to France
against a possible return of German
aggression, and the creation on the
other side of a Poland capable alike
of resisting German and bolshevik at
tack and of becoming an considerable
and important European force.
Discussion of the western frontier OF
Germany remains open at the moment
this article is written, but ! learn
from unquestioned American sources
that very great progress has been
made toward an agreement. AS
matter of fact, the appearance OF any
question upon the calendar of the
peace conference is fairly good indt-
cation that the great powers are al
ready so near an agreement that as
.cussion can be had without any peru
of division. In a word, the conference
only discusses after the conference
has agreed.
Many times in the course of my cor
respondence 1 have pointed out 1hat
there never was any question on the
mart of the French of the annexation
Of ,urely German territory on the left
bank of the Rhine. Despite certain III
uatured suspicious and despite certain
extreme statements in the most I'M
perialistic of French quarters, not III
the least Indicative of the wish OF the
people, there has been from the very
beginning perfectly frank rehunc'a
tion on the part of the frehch
government of any claim TO an
mex German territory. except IN
the case Of Alsace-Lorrame' "hs"
was French until 1871, ana INC
sasr coal district, part OF whicn was
French until 1915, and all of which was
French up to the treaty Of Paris IN
1a1l The whole spirit and the whoie
nnrpose of French policy has oeeh "
Seek Drotection against new German
.tt.ck by achieving some form OF neo-
tralixation Of German territofs
tween tn eSaar and the Rhlne' SO Tue.
in case of another war the strussie
would begin not in the neare
French territory, but in German Ter
ritory.
Americans See Frances Part.
rnrouxhout the course of the CON
f.r.rce there have been marked aii-
f.rences IN the American point Q.
view as to the question OF nnancia,
nayments which Germany shouiu
make to the countries she has deVas
<.ted hut co-existent with this oii-
x..erce Of view, which in reality
1aaves opportunity for satisfactory
compromise, there has been oeseiop
snr In American quarters very pro-
found sympathy with the French oe-
.,r. for security and an increasing
understanding Of the French mooo .'i
this respect. AS we stay longer ="
Europe we Americans grow 10 appre
clate the European problem more ac
cur.tely. A result of this develop
rmeut of American understanding u
French feeling with respect 70 TUG
-e.tern frontier of Germany Is no"
feund in the very general expectation
that within the next two weeks ene
whole question will be resolved IN the
following manner: In the nrst place
deapite German blun and menace III
recent days. the question OF Aisace-
rorraine will not be reopened and the
,-.rosterous German demand for a
plebiscite in Alsace-Lorraine Will NOT
he granted. In a word. Alsace-Lor-
raine win be regarded henceforth as
rrepch territory stolen from France
Sr 1871 regained for France at the
moment of the German surrender IN
November 1918. In the second place,
France will be permitted 10 anne
without qualification the reiatlvey
restricted Saar valley area. importan.,
Necause of its great coal deposits. anu
necessary to French industries, now
that the Germans have put the
French coal-producing territories on
the north out of business Tor a peI,oo
~ AT least five or ten years. Thirdiy,
between Belgium and France on the
west and the Rhine on the east tnere
VII be created Rhenish repuphc,
which will serve as buner state oe-
tween Germany and the countries
hitch she invaded in 1914, and I am
Informed that while there has oeen
no decision in the matter of the saar
ana of the Rhenish republic. there is
no longer any real question of Amer
lea opposing this solution.
Rhenish Republic Solution.
The question of a Rhenish republic
IL to be solved in the following man
ner. First of all. there is no question
of French or Belgian annexation or
any of this territory apart from the
Saar valley and two or three French
speaking towns on the Belgian from
tier. of which Maltnedy is the most
considerable This is the decision
both for the present and for the iu-
ture. There is no idea that at any
stime this country will be ABSORBED
either by the French or by the Ger
mans. It Is recognized to be Ger
man. It is recognized that to annex
II to France would be to create new
and dangerous Alsace-Lorratne. ana
10 arouse German patriotic emotion
which might prove as legitimate an
obstacle to future peace as the an
nexation of Alsace-Lorraine consu-
tuted after 1871.
BY contrast, there is belief that.
separated from Prussian influence
which save in the palatinate. has pre-
vailed on the western. bank OF the
Rhine for hundred years---inhabi-
tants of the region who were natural
Iy unsympathetic with the Russian
idea and were once permeated with
the spirit of the French revolution.
will achieve a degree of independence
from the evil influence OF the Prus-
sian idea, and that they will in time
the Latin countries of the west. But
Il u recognized that It would be i'm
possible ard ineQuitable permanently
to deprive their people of the right of