The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram., 1919-03-17

disarming Germany, we have in fact
disarmed ourselves, although for
period of years Germany will. be help
less and the combined, If small, pro-
fessional armies of the Allies will suf-
| fee to prevent a new German assault.
1t is a matter of frank question
/ whether the peoples of Europe after
| this tremendous tragedy would have
consented to accept any peace which
| cotinued the conditions as to conscrip-
! tion which existed before 1914. 1t Is
a question whether any peace, even
under the shadow of the League OF
Nations, would have been welcomed
/ by the millions of Europe If 1t did not
absolve them from the blood tribute
| of the old militaristic system. We at
Paris are still under the shadow OF
the soldiers who won this war, but it
| Is matter of open question whether
the plain people of the world would
have accepted the solution which pre-
| served so much of what existed before
| the deluge.
Follows Original Policy.
In any event. Lloyd George who, be-
yond all question, is the cleverest
politician in the world, and whose
knowledge of his own country polite
ally surpasses a similar knowledge of
any other statesman, has concluded
that this disarmament is necessary If
order Is to be preserved and Bolshev-
ism avoided, and his voice has pre-
vailed at Paris under circumstances
which must remain remarkable For
the first time, he has ventured to
speak with authority in the name of
his country, and for the first time
England has followed an original pol
icy in Paris rather than exercising her
influence in shaping the American
policies.
As l have said, the whole thing has
two aspects. The domestic political
necessities of Mr.. Lloyd George, and
the larger philosophic conception of
many Englishmen. 1t was impossi-
Bile to persuade the British public
permanently to adopt the system of
conscription which they reluctantly
accepted after the war had continued
for many months; 1t was impossible
to raise any professional armies by
the voluntary system which could
face the German armies If Germany
retained the conscription system. But
there was also the hope that If Ger
many now temporarily in chains
should be compelled to abandon the
institution OF conscription, she would
not revert to 1t after she had regained
her national health.
All this leads back to a single GEN.
trail truth. All that we may do at
Paris to Germany-justly, in view of
her great sins against her neighbors,
nationally in view of her ultimate po-
tential strength-all will be of little
avail If in the future 75,000,00O of Ger
mans shall choose to revert to the
policies of aggression rather than to
adopt the principles and ideals which
have become the basis of western
civilization.
Will Protect France.
To give France as the outpost of
civilization security, we are building
new frontiers along the Rhine To
ensure an opportunity for the develop
ment of the recently enfranchised
races in middle and eastern Europe
and in Asia Minor, we are construct
ing a League of Nations which is in
the nature Of insurance. We have
taken Germany's ships and we can
look forward to a decade and perhaps
quarter Of a century in which our
insurance may hold good. - Yet more
and more the truth is becoming ap-
parent in Paris and elsewhere Ulti-
mately the fate of Germany and the
policies of Germany will be shaped
from within and not from without. So
far, we have drawn a barbed wire
line about Germany and followed a
course, logical and natural in treating
all Germans alike, because all Ger
mans shared in responsibility for re-
cent events. Yet nothing is more
certain and more obvious than the
fact that by this very course we have
contributed to preserving and increas-
ing the essential unity of Germany.
For at least two centuries, the pol
icy of France was to preserve the d.
vision Of Germany. South Germany
was as frequently in alliance with the
Bourbons as with the Hapsburg or
Hohenzollerns, and between North and
South Germany there were religious
hostilities as we'll as traditional en-
mites. But in Paris we have chosen
to regard Germany as whole, and
we have driven all parts of Germany
into unity which scarcely existed in
1914, or even at the moment of the
armistice in 1918.
Affects All Nations
If we are to continue this policy
we have to contemplate for all time
a united Germany which, unless Rus
sia shall achieve refrigeration, will be
the greatest single nation in Europe
II the greatest single nation in Eu-
rope shall follow imperialistic and mil
itaristic ideas, we shall have to defend
our liberties in the future as in the