Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1921-09-19

q decree issuing from Prague forbidt
the exports of beets so the factory il
idle and the fields untitled.
How France keeps going under
the burden she is attempting to carry
is mystery. Her army numbers
over 100000 men, in expectation of an
overnight invasion of Germany. 1t is
idle to tell the French people that
Germany is impotent in military
sense, as our official observers re-
port, the harsh terms of the treaty to
that end having been substantially
complied with. They attribute to
their late enemies powers of deception
that defy the ingenuity of the most
skilled intelligence officers of the
combined allies. A cultured French
man whom / met in Verdun told me
his ancestral home had been ravaged
three times by the Germans, in 1914,
1870 and 1914, and he added, 1--WE
know not when it will occur again.
They appear to be possessed of the
unreasoning fear of a man struck by
lightning. Whether those who con-
troll the public policy of France share
fully in this belief / have no means of
knowing.
| NIOS IWp0Jt0VSStC = VtCys
/ 1T is scarcely to be conceived that
they do but / am satisfied that the
prevalence Of it is utilized to forward
an imperialistic policy that keeps Eu-
rope in continuous ferment. An OBJ
server cannot resist the conclusion
that French statesmen aim at making
| their country again the dominant pow
er in Europe The ambitious purposes
| of Louis XIV and of Napoleon are
family harbored. Theyo penly encour-
| age Poland in her insistence on keep
| ing Upper Silesia, Notwithstanding the
| result Of the plebiscite. They are pro-
viding her with arms in anticipation of
| an unfavorable decision by the arbi-
! traitors now seeking the solution of
the dispute. They acrimoniously blame
Mr.. Wilson for preventing them from
annexing the Rhineland, notwithstand-
ing the plain implication of. the ex-
changs resulting in the armistice that
they were TO have Alsace and Lor-
raine only. and the Germans are con-
fident that they have no purpose. to
abandon the occupied territory when
the 15-year period stipulated In the
treaty has run.
"Some cause is given for the Ger
,, man fear that sooner or later they
will occupy the .Suhr valley, the. mos.
highly developed industrial section Of
Germany, upon the claim that essential
provisions of the Versailles treaty, in
ciuding the Preparations, have not been
complied with. 1t is charged that
French politics is at the bottom Of the
movement for the withdrawal of Ba-
varia from the federation, as part
of thc plan of Balkanizing Germany,
that is to say. dividing it up into
number of petty states SO that there
might not be unity Of action against
France.
Preparing for War.
81 do not blame the French for the
course they are pursuing. they are to
be excused if they do not reason as
calmly as we over the situation Ihey
assert that. abandoned as they have
been by their allies, they must look out
for themselves. 1t is vain. however,
to look for any return Of normalcy in
Europe while the existing eondltlons
continue. The substance OF the people
that ought to be devoted to rehaoln-
tating industry is being consume q. IN
preparation for further wars. Sixty
per cent of our copper goes abroad.
Prior TO the war 60 per cent of our
EXPORTS of that commodity went to
Germany. The mines in Butte are
shut down because Europe Is not buy,
ing. is not able to buy copper ana WIN
not until political conditions are more
stahla and production makes some ad-
vance toward normal
"Antwerp was, prior to the war.
great absorber of antipodean wool.
I-ntil the people of central Europe get
rich enough to buy their usual amount
81 wooden clothes and their factories
hepin TO manufacture wooden goods
for export, Australia and Argentina
will continue to dump their Wool on
the American market. When the peo-
pIe of Germany and the scanalnasian
countries return to eating white oreao'
instead Of black bread. the American
growers Of wheat will again come INTO
the;r own. We are importuned at
Washington to help the export trade
NV the extension of credit. put the
trouhle is that in the prevailing condl-
lions only the most limited credit IS
justified.
"As | view it. the value of the DIS
armament conference to assemble at
Washington this winter is not to De
over estimated. Should an agreement
he entered into. it would enable us to
save half billion dollars annually on
our military establishment. but our
greatest gain would be in the restora-
ton of the European market for our
surplus product when perforce the en-
ergies of it's people would be directed
industrial development instead
Of senseless. suicidal and consuming
war. France, to my mind, is the STUN
bling block.
Colonel Emery. commander of the
American Legion. on his return few |
DAYS ago remarked that it is unrea-
sonable to expect France to disarm |
without giving her a guaranty against !
invasion by Germany. l am disposed |
TO agree with him. France could be |
induced to reduce her army to say |
25O. 600 men if the United States and |
Great Britain would agree to come to |
her aid should she be again invaded by |
the Germans We would never be
called upon to redeem the obligation
because it is inconceivable that Ger
many would become the aggressor I'M
der such circumstances. But II she did
rehabilitate herself in a military sense |
and was able to form such alliances
as to warrant here in challenging the
three great powers. we might as well
prepare to meet her as we did in
1917.
Nothing to Lose
"To my mind we have every thing to
gain and nothing to lose by such an
agreement. Were it made, France
have Nh ,,uruosn in inf ripllinp