El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1920-06-02

Germany Of her appetite for expan-
sion at the expense Of her uelghbors.
the question Of the Rhine barrier
would disappear automatically
me PROOF Of this fact lies in the
history or the peace conference The
soldiers demanded for France the
khine barrier as a military matter.
me word Of marshal Foch carried
the greatest weight in France on the
morrow OF victory. Yet when presi-
dent Wilson and Lloyd George offered
TO France a substitute in the treaty
OF Anglo-American insurance. Glenn
enceau took it without a moments
hesitation and the French people as
mass accepted II without criticism.
me reopening OF the question Of
the Rhine dates from the moment
when the United States senate in re-
lectlng the treaty Of Versailles gave
final evidence that it would not ac-
cepr the AnEl0-Amer ican treaty Of
insurance. British guarantees fell
with American. because they were
conditioned upon American partici-
patton in the Watch on the Rhine"
Thus France found herself again
faced by the old dangers, found her
self as she was, when the advice Of
toch was rejected by Clerhenceau and
the guarantees Of Britain and the
United States accepted as a substi-
tute
II the German Is to resume his
old predatory habits, there is no
place where he can be fought
with so much advantage for
France and Belgium, and for
britain, rs Tar as that goes as at
the Rhine.
Yet n France and Belgium occupy
the left bank OF the Rhine a new
Alsace-LOrraine is Enthusiastically ere
ated, ana European peace is menaced
by problem quite as rhorny as that
which contributed largely to pro-
voking the recent conflict No one
can believe that the Germans viii
permanently consent 70 foreign oc-
cupation OF Cologne, AIayence and
Coblenz We shall have a German
war OF liberation q generation hence,
just as we had a Franco-German war
less than half a century after the
iniquity Of the treaty OF Frankfort,
which mutilated France
How, then, IS one to solve the prob
lemt To permit reFeugeIul ana
warlike Germany to dominate both
sides OF the Rhine is TO expose France
and Belgium TO new attack ike
that Of 1914 To take from Ger
many the left bank Of the Rhine
from the Lauter to the Dutch from
tier. is TO insure that henCeforth
Germany viii be filled with spirit
Of revenge and ultimately dominated
by q military impulse growing out OF
a sense OF wrong.
Measure OF Protection.
Within the treaty Of versailles
there is a measure OF protection for
France in the creation Of a neutral
district on either bank Of the Rhine.
But it was this halfway protection
which was challenged when the Ger
mans sent their troops into the Ruhr
district. The French answer was the
occupation OF Frankfort With the
evacuation Of the Ruhr. the French
have retired from the main city and
things stand again where they stood
before the two incidents
But q D. idle TO suppose that
they can permanently remain In
the present situation. We must
expect n new Germany or n fresh
alliance AGAINST Germany gunrnn-
teeinE France and BelEium
against a repetition OF recent
events.
Failing either. we shall have a pro-
longed French occupation OF the
Rhine, justified by German nonfulfll-
ment OF essential portions Of the
treaty OF Versailles.
French Chauvinism. French desires
for German territory, these are in
details in the problem OF
the Rhine. il the French people
finally assume all the heavy risks
incident 10 the occupation OF the left
bank OF the Rhine beyond the period
fixed by the treaty Of Versailles II
one hand and the British and Ameri-
cans on the other have left France
with no other escape and FOR the
great mass Of Frenchmen. the course
viii be viewed with utmost appre-
tension and Copyright, /
1920, by Mcclure Newspaper syndi-
cate.