The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-07
Armistice Day Anniversary Finds Entente Much at Odds

lldIOuQS
action or Of views was inevitable AS a con-
sequence the coalition which defeated Ger
many has ceased to exist, and between the
recent allies there now stand very great bar
riers
At Paris for brief period American pres
ence preserved the coalition for the simple
reason that America, through President Will
son, was able to offer something equally
good for prizes sought by rival nations who
thus imperilled the coalition and world peace.
An American guarantee on the Rhine
better for France than French occupation
of the left bank unaided American largess
in food and fuel weighed more with Italy at
the moment than open break with Wilson
by the forcible annexation of Fiume. Poland
and the balance of middle and eastern Eu
rope bowed to our decisions. however
favorable, because of their immediate needs
which could only be met by American con-
tributions.
Immediate Needs of European States
Give America Precedence.
Our power and our wealth held the coal-
ton together at Paris. not without difficulty
not without manifest weakening of the
bonds, but still as long we remained there
was semblance of unity. At Paris Britain
and the United States, President Wilson and
Lloyd George imposed a peace upon the
balance of the world in many respects I'M
satisfactory, but still to be accepted because
of the strength of the principal States back
ing 1t. The Paris conference was an Anglo
Saxon affair, with France admitted not as
an equal but as a favored nation, while to
Italy there was allowed less favor and to the
rest OF the nations allied in a common cause
neither favor nor courtesy.
With the British we fixed the frontiers of
France. of Poland, of Italy. Of Rumania. and
undertook to impose those frontiers upon
those States. In the midst of this attempt
the President came home, the United States
Senate refused to ratify the treaties, the
Anglo-Saxon control broke down. France,
Italy. all the Continental nations quickly or
slowly escaped from Anglo-Saxon leading and
began to follow their own national instincts.
AS a consequence the coalition of 1918 is a
memory. France and Britain are divided on
almost every question now raised in Europe,
Italy and France pursue opposite and con-
flicting policies, the little nations are not
only seeking frontiers in conformity with
their needs and traditions, but forming alli
ances to guarantee each other, since Ameri-
can guarantees are gone
And it is essential for Americans to rec
ognize that mere ratification of the Treaty
of Paris mere adoption of the covenant of
the League of Nations, will not restore the
situation of 1918. That situation. the condi-
tons of Paris, were created not by idealistic
principles but by material power. If we
would undertake again the task Of estab-
fishing the peace of the world by harmonz-
ing the conflicting aspirations of the vari-
Gus nations we must recognize frankly that
the price of such a task Is revealed in the
necessity to guarantee frontiers and not less
certainly to cancel loans.~
To Resume American Leadership of the
World Means Vast Outlay.
In America the European desire for Amer
lean participation in world affairs has again
and again been represented as due to Euro
pean enthusiasm for American principles
But few hours in Paris in 1919 were suffi-
Client to prove the contrary Europe ac-
cepted our ideas when necessary. because
Europe needed our resources or longed for
the protection of our strength. We can re-
sumo the commanding position of 1918 and
1919: we may even be able to increase our
power by dissolving the Anglo Saxon part
nership and ruling alone, but we can only
do 1t by paying at every step.
And our payment will take two obvious
forms, the guarantee of the frontiers which
we allow the various nations, our guarantee
taking the place of natural protection Incl
dent to frontiers drawn as they desire. and
the cancelatlOn or the $lO,OOO,OOOO0O owed
us by our European associates in the world
war. The guarantee Mr.. Wilson gave the
cancellation was never openly agreed to. but
it was a sub-surface expectation fully dis
closed in Keynes's notorious volume
Our withdrawal from Europe wrecked the
alliance which had won the war, but the
alliance would have fallen to pieces in any
case had 1t not been that out of our strength
and wealth there were found resources to
repay France for her sacrifices on the Rhine
and. for the moment but only for the mo-
ment. to reconcile Italy to waiting for Fiume
But unless we are willing to pay even we
cannot restore the alliance or replace it by
any new association of nations for the simple
reason that all Continental nations are con-
cerned first Of all with the attainment of
security, through territorial integrity and
strategically strong frontiers. and these as
p!rations they Will not sacrifice save for the
certainty OF American military aid on the
Dniester. the Bug and the Martha.
Copyright, 1920 by the Mcclure Newspaper
SUndicdtc)