New-York tribune., 1920-09-12
By Frank II. Simonds


ignores the inner workings OF
European affairs than that supplied
by the general surprise on this side
of the water at the uproar created
by Secretary Colby's Polish utter
ance both in London and in Paris.
In France the chorus of approval
surpassed anything that has been
heard since the days of the Paris
Conference-and the very early
days. In London, as The New York
Tribune correspondent remarked,
the public was stunned"
The truth was this: For many
months, ever since the day of the
armistice, to be exact, both French
and British diplomacy have been in
volved in a struggle which extends
all over the world and has a very
wide range Of specific issues. And
beyond these specific issues there is a
Fundamental difference of opinion in
the matter of peace, of the future
organization of Europe. of the treat
naent of Germany and of Russia.
British Policy Upheld
In the Paris Conference America,
on the whole, took the British view,
or, to put the thing more exactly,
Britain seemed to take the American
view. 1t was the conception of
Lloyd George, ablest Of all the diplo-
matte and parliamentary leaders in
the present world, that British pol
icy at Paris should associate itself
with American, that by clever sup
port of President Wilson on i'm
material matters American support
might be had on the few matters of
real moment to the British, most of
whose desires had been realized by
the war itself.
First among all the specific issues
between France and Britain was the
reorganization of the Near East.
The war had hardly ended when the
Bri-iS:i and French foreign offices
bec'an to fight over Syria and Meso-
rotamia. At the bottom of the fight
lay the British desire to keep the
French out Of the Near East, be-
cause, fact little grasped by
America, it is in the Near East,
more exactly in the Middle and Far
East, that the real interests of the
British Empire lie.
French Rivalry
France, established upon the Sy-
rss~ St.oral, holding a considerable
ae1t.on of the Bagdad railway, in
Guiding its inevitable debouch upon
the Mediterranean, would be an un-
comfortable neighbor, for French
aspirations extended far inland, to
the banks of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. Twenty years before
the peace conference Britain was
ready to fight France, provided
Marchand did not retire from Fa-
shoda. Then, as always, British
ofticials were enormously keen on
the subject of maintaining Brit
lsh position in the East and exclud-
ing all possible rivals, although, on
the eve Of the World War, Sir Ed
ward Grey had consented to an
arrangement with Germany which
would have let the Germans into
Asia Minor.
Now, incredible as it may seem,
this Syrian debate poisoned the
whole Paris Conference. When Mr..
Wilson arrived it was represented to
him that the problem fell under his
principle of self-determination. On
this basis British influence urged
him to force the French to surrender
sh"'r rights in Syria which had been
recognized by the British in the
Sykes~Picot treaty of the war pc.
riod. American influence fell in with
British on this as on 80 many othe,
questions, hut the French hung on
until Nr. Wilson had retired from
Europe and then pressed their
csaims successfully 30 far as Syria
was concerned, but unsuccessfully so
far as Mosul and a portion Of the
hnterland were concerned.
A Policy Beyond Criticism
Now, I dwell upon the Syrian
episode only because it was typical.