Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-02-02

| Of 1917. rather than those Of 1870, as
| an ac- Of justice, both because of an
| Gent stealing and of cotemporary de-
! struction. and so far as / know there
is no criticism of her purpose among
J the British or among Americans in
I France.
So much for the European phase of
! the French purpose / repeat that
: they do not think of imperialistc
] purposes They are anxious to pre-
. vent a repetition of the past. 1t il
! very hard To give TO Americans who
! have lived in peace and with no ac-
/ curate picture O. GeV.-I ~ ID FIR rec
( real Understa nding of French emo
{ ton al the present time France has
I Just escaped i terrible disaster. which
would have meant approximate ma
tional destruction For nearly half
2 century the French people have eX-
/ listed under the shadow of German
/ threat 1t still seems only yester-
, day that German shells were falling
/ in Paris, and the sky was lighted at
/ s.u :. 1t is orlV . few months since
! the arrival of German troops in Paris
was believed inevitable.
Perils Not Easily Forgotten.
The greatest apprehension is over,
but not easily do men and women
forget perils so recent, which are
again only repetitions of past his
/ tory. It is this element which inf1u-
ences French idealism and French
aspiration at the present hour. 1t is
this grim fact that CompelS the mass
OF thoughtful Frenchmen to examine
the league OF nations with suspicion
which Is easily interpreted as hos
tility, which it is not. The rest of the
world can well afford to gamble in
IA Tor If IL L.,
The French cannot afford to take
any chance. and the limitations i'm
posed upon them by their recent his
tory and by all their history are
easily translated into revisal OF
Chauvinism, thereby doing France
very great injustice.
Turning now to the French view OF
questions outside of Europe much is
10 be heard in Paris today as to
French designs upon Syria. ,'he situa-
ton is complicated. Before America
came into the war, France and Eng
land had mutually agreed upon a d.
vision of that part of the Turkish en-
pire between the Gulf of AleNandretta
and Suez. In this division theIe was
allotted 70 France the region of which
Beyrouth is tile port arid Damascus
the most considerable city. Included
in il naturally was Leganon. Those
who know the near east know that
this has been for centuries a field OF
French culture and E'ft nch influence,
and in 4 sense of cultural propaganda.
In this region France has a consid-
cradle economic interest, including
most of the railways.
Under the new dispeEsatior, which
undertakes to recognize the desires
of various nationalitieS, 1T is now
urged. not without force, that srlla
should be permitted to constitute it
self into a separate state If it elects
to, or become d portion IF the some
what imaginary kingdom of HedJaz
In fact. it is argued that France
should resign all claims to Syria, and
il is urged that any failure OF France
to make such sacrifice convicts the
French of old-fashioned colonial i'm
perialism.
Sentimental and Economics.
The claim of France to Syria is SEN
timental. as well as economic, but
such information as / can gather
leads me to believe that however
strongly official France reviews
French claims the Syrian question
will not be permitted to break up
concord between the various nations,
and am convinced that the Frenca
people would not support i military
eynedition to conquer Syria, nor
poiitical quarrel with their preser :
allies over Syria.
j. There is a very considerable posi-
bility that the Syrians themselves.
left to themselves, in part. az ieast;
might elect a French protectorate OF
"A vague sort, wholly different from
military occupation, and il this should
: happen I think the French peopie
would understand that the will OF the
| Syrian people should be recognized;
but so far as an aggressive colonial
| campaign for Syria is concerned 1
do not think it will take place.
( The question of the African colonies
of Germany is not as vitality interest
ing to the French as it is to the Brit.
ism. France, under her arrangement
with Great Britain, would normally
receive part of Togo and all of Cam
Groom, but it is my judgment that
the French are vastly less concerned
over the possible return to Germany
of Central African colonies than are
the British, for whom German West
lns-,iaUe to the Union of
South Africa, and German East Afri-
ca is a standing threat on the road
| to India.
! In the same way there is a pro-
nounced French desire to see the
! Spanish evicted from North Africa.
where their precarious position in
| Morocco is a menace alike to Spain
! and to France. source of endless
expense and no benefit: but here
. again French purpose is expressed in
! the desire to purchase what Spain
. cannot administer, is we purchased
| the Philippines from the same ma
! ton.
, such, in brief, is a summary of the
| French view of the peace conference,
| so far as it concerns material things
! l wish I could emphasize the fact
| that the mood Of France in insist
: ing upon material as well as physical
| guarantees against German aggres-
! sion is the inevitable consequence of
! the last four years. In her ruined
j cities, her desolate fields, her suffer-
{ ing population. France sees threat
{ of new German invasion. For her
I greatest task is to make the su-
! 2rerne tragedy unlikely again. She
! does not seek to occupy the left bank
( Of the Rhine. She does strive to pro-
d, vide that q new German invasion
! shall start at the Rhine and not
/ across il, in the very heart of her
! own and Belgian industrial districts
! Duty Owed to Future.
. No other one of the nations has the
| same concerns, since no other one of
| the great nations has endured the
| same .agonies. France at the con-
ference asks the nations that more
| or less tardiiy recognized that their
fate was linked up with her to join
her in taking material and physical
! guarantees against a return of the
barbarian.
| To some Americans this seems chauy-
| inistic. To others it seems an in
| credible thing that the French hesi-
| tate to accept the moral assurance
held out by the league of nations and
display apprehension that what hap
pened recently may happen again !;
but this is an act of faith beyond the