New-York tribune., 1920-04-25

A'N ~>AAC0 POllcy with
respect to Germany. The Amer
lean people have rejected Mr.. vii.
sons policy and taken the United
States out Of the situation. excent
so far as Mr.. Wilson, by execut;v.
act or personal word, can influenc.
it.
The British people, on tho othe,
hand, have rapidly come to adont
the view that the economic term.
Of the treaty must be modified. that
in such modification there lies for
them the largest conceivable ad.
vantage.
France Will Not Yield
To procure this advantage Franc.
is called upon to make sacrifces
but France, which bore the burden
of the war and bears the chief bur.
den of the peace, cannot and will
not consent to such sacrifices. Least
Of all will she consent to them Will.
Germany stands defiant and IN
arms, seeking to exploit the dissr.
ray in Allied councils, planning ia
repeat at the earliest possible mo-
ment the achievements Of 1919
when at Leipsic, seven years after
Jena, she dealt her conqueror Ii.
fatal blow.
The real crisis at the present
hour grows out Of the clash between
the British and French policies. &C.
centuated by the American with
drawal and the Italian hatred Of
France, a hatred based upon }sal.
ousy, upon resentment at French
failure to support Italy In the peace
conference and out Of a different
view Of the future, so far as the
new Slav states are concerned. One
may say that there is an obvious
line Of compromise, one and only
one, in the possibility that the Brit.
ish will support the French in en-
forcing the disarmament Of Ger,
many. with the actual or implied
understanding that, once Germany
is disarmed, France will accept the
British view in the matter Of the
economic clauses of the Treaty Of
Versailles.
But this involves the German
element at once. Germany is play
ing to save her army. The men who
actually control Germany, Luden-
dorff and his comrades, are not even
concerned primarily with the ecu
nomic future Of Germany, for they
believe that if the military future
is secure the economic will be re-
stored. They trace German pros
perity in the past to the military
predominance, and they argue that
to restore Germany the first step
must be to restore the army. They
will use the economic issue to dis
rupt the Allies; they will make
every effort to divide Britain from
France, but in the last analysis
they will stand resolute to save tho
army.
The Same Germany
This means that we are in the
presence Of the same old Germany,
and that to obtain the real disarma-
ment of the Germans we must resort
to force, to the blockade. not I'M
possibly to military measures -
we'll. And resort to such weapons.
to such methods, really spells the
ruin of any immediate economic re-
vival in Germany. The dilemma Il
unmistakable. We have to decide
between saving Germany economi-
cally and at the same time per-
mitting the military group to re-
organize the German army on It's old
basis and taking such steps as Will
almost infallibly increase, not abol-
ish, the disorganization of the in
dustrial and economic life Of the
nation.
As a matter Of right, WISDOM
mere common sense, there can be no
question between the two policies.
But the trouble lies in the fact that
of the three great nations whose
combined effort could produce the
desired result easily America has
retired, Britain has adopted the
view that the economic restoration
of Germany is Of immediate impcr'
tance, and France, supported only
by Belgium, stands committed to the
view that Germany must be dis
armed as a condition precedent -
any economic restoration.
On the eve of the momentous con-
ference of San Reno 1t is clear thas
there has been a new shift in Brit
ish policy, shift in the direction OF
support for the French demand tnss
Germany be compelled to disarm'
This momentarily restores the unity
in the Allied camp; if the view which
- xoc~~.1.>&. ~..~:Y~ sf <Eo pnllcV