Evening star., 1919-04-01
American Position.


To this the United States is under
stood to have answered that the coal
mines can be administered by the
French for their own advantage. but
political possession of the territory is
not necessary: indeed. that to put so
many hundreds of thousands of Ger
man inhabitants permanently under
French rule would only cause the
Rhenish provinces to become a seat of
unrest in Europe. and the United
States cannot be expected to keep an
army indefinitely in Europe to main
tain peace
What is puzzling Washington is
shat the demand for the provinces on
the left bank of the Rhine should be
SO insistently urged by France when
at the time of signing of the armis-
tice everything pointed to the fact
that France would relinquish her
claim in that respect. In fact. when
first question / asked of Col. House
was whether the French hail given
up their claim to the left bank Of
the Rhine. He said the American
government had written pledge from
the French which amounted to a re-
linQuishment of tfat claim.
May Recede on Claim.
1t was. to be sure. generally under
stood among French writer's that such
a position had been adopted by their
government. but no official statement
was made. Therefore. it would not
be surprising If. after all, the French
receded on this claim. but made it
the basis for obtaining concessions l
other directions. 1t is precisely this
method of trading and bargaining
which is called European diplomacy.
and which is believed by French
sympathizers here to be responsible
f0r Nf hn 81 o,,S< 70 fo1
by the American delegates and re-
fiected by the American correspon-
dents in their cables to this country.
Not understanding the language and
the diplomacy Of France. the Ameri-
can delegates are believed to have
grown impatient and irritated A
much more sympathetic tone is re-
vealed by some Of the British writer's,
who have lived closer to France and
understand her methods of doing
business.
AS for the threat of revealing
secrets, it is quite conceivable that
this may refer to the correspondence
passing between the allies and the
United States at the time the four
teen points were interpreted by the
leys at Versailles before it was
agreed to accept Germany's proposal
for an armistice. Publicity of the
viewpoint then expressed by the
allies would no doubt clarity the
situation and disclose whether some
Of the foreign delegations have SIM
ply been inconsistent. or whether
new circumstances" have arisen
justifying new demands.
President Is Impatient.
Whatever the reason may be for the
demand on the part of France that
the allies and the United States go
back one hundred years to 1914, to
give back TO France territory she
then owned on the Rhine, it is be-
coming evident here that President
Wilson is impatient to get peace
signed, but does not feel that he can
lend his signature to a peace treaty
that includes anything which may
hereafter be described as imperialis-
tic and which he himself has by i'm
plication so described in his various
speeches. The Presidents idea seems
to be that the outbreak of bolshevism
in Hungary is symptomatic of what
may come in Germany if the allies
consider only themselves and not the
future peace of Europe and the
world.
The French are not so much dis
turbed by the threats of bolshevism
because they believe it should be
fought by force. that peace should be
imposed upon Germany at the point
of the bayonet if necessary. The big
question is: Will Germany do as did
Russia when the Berlin militarists
said the same thing at Rrest-Litovsk?
Will Germany invite the allied armies
to do as they please and herself adopt
passive resistance? These are the in
terrogations expressed in terms of the
deepest anxiety in official Washington
together with the realization that If
the premiers do not agree on terms
with Germany which shall square
with their professions of democracy
and unselfishness during the war then
the chances for a successful opera :
tion Of the league Of nations will also
diminish.
Paris Now on Trial.
Paris is on trial just now in set
tling the terms which shall be i'm
posed on vanquished enemy Friends
of the President say he will make a
full statement on his position within