New-York tribune., 1921-12-10
Anglo-French
Friction Laid
To Selfislllless
Failure to Recognize
Rights of Friends Blamed
by Lauzanne for Cloud
Over the Two Nations
Need of Patience Barred
of Germany on
Land Should Be as Thor
ongh as at Sea, Says Editor
BY Stephane L.auzanne
Editor in Chief Of "Le Matin"

Ed'ror Z" Chtef OF lie MGtfn
Copyright, 1921 New York Tribune Inc.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9.-Of course,
there is an Anglo-French cloud. And
that cloud has several times obscured
the work of the conference. and it will
again obscure the progress of the
world toward peace. Perhaps it is too
early yet to try to dispel it, hut it is
never too early to try to locate and
analyze it.
do not say that France is not wrong
In some respects. l am certain that
she is. France is not country Of
angels and will never be- There exists
no such country or earth.
France and the French press indulge
too much in the game Of pin-prlcks.
When discussing, they are prone to find
the word that stings, and that some-
times leaves wound behind it. There
is too great tendency to generalize;
TO believe, for instance. that a Curzon
represents the whole of England and
Wells the whole of British thought.
The French forget that there are also
balTours and Steeds. Above all, they
toe quickly entertain suspicion. They
believe too easily. whenever they ara
confronted with divergence of views.
that they are in the presence of q plot:
they are too prompt to suspect machi-
nations. They don't consider that il
the affairs Of the world are not going
well It is due more to stupidity than
to wicksdness. / believe that France
can and should accuse herself Of all
this.
May add that, whatever happens.
the people of France will never forget
what the people Of England did during
the four years OF the war Along the
railroad line from Paris to Boulogne,
near Etaples, there is large field
covered with a multitude of small
Waite crosses. under each of which
Tommy hes sleeping his last long sleep
under French soil, the soil he came to
defend at the cost of his life. Every
traveller who goes from one country
to another can see them from the car
as he rides by. These are the things
that can never be erased from ones
memory. Many time: during the lass
two years, when pen in hand, I crit
cised little too sharply Englishmen
or English things, have recalled those
thousands of crosses. And many a
time, too, i have remembered that
morning of August 5. 1914, when. l
SHED the real tears of joy of my life
upon learning that the English fleet
the armies of France. And | either
toned down the bitterness Of some of
my words or regretted it later.
Hut Eng and, who possesses admi-
rable qualities snd not all of our French
shortcomings, has one terrible fault.
which is never to take into considera-
ton the interests of her friends, never
to admit that they may do as she
does, never to understand that they
too, may have their needs, their inter
ests, their nerves Here, and nowhere
else, is the reason for the deplorable
Misunderstanding of the last two
years and of thoae that will follow.
What did England do the day after
the armistice? She disarmed Germany
on the sea, both militarily and COM
mercially, in week. She took all her
warships from her, most of her mer-
chant ships, ell OF her colonies. She
did we'll. She had sufficiently suffered
and struggled on every occasion to be
entitled to every appeasement. But
why, when the question was of disarm-
ing Germany on land, was it not ad-
mitted that we we're entitled to the
same rights? We're we not justified in
expecting the same appeasement, too :?
And yet the military regime under
which Germany lives to-day was not
framed by Marshal Foch, but by Mr.
Lloyd George England claims to be
the judge of the soldiers, cannon, ma
chine guns that Germany may keep
We never claimed to. be the judge of
the battleships, cruisers and subma-
rines that Germany may keep.
The other day heard Mr.. Balfour
speak at Memorial Hall on the unique
position of the British Isles in the
world, with food supply sufficient for
twenty days only, and the necessity for
them, to avoid being starved or
throttled, of keeping their sea com
munications free. I was listening to
this with emotion and respect. There
is something deeply stirring in hearing
a great people express the peril that
threatens its life. But when France
speaks OF her unique position in Eu-
rope, q stones throw from Germany.
with her capital twenty day march
from the German frontier, why is she
not heard, and why is she laughed at
in Manchester? We, who have been
invaded four times in a hundred and
twenty years, are we not justified in
being as nervous as Engand who has
rot been invaded for seven centuries
and who has not been attacked on sea
for hundred and ten years?
And everything else is in keeping.
II England has retained an nnconouer-
able distrust as regards ireland and
found it so hard to get on with her,
why does she not admit that we NAV
continue to har5or dlsrrust where Ger
many is concerned? II England finds
1t normal to arrange matters in Meso-
potamia by giving a throne to prince
whom our generals had to have ar
rested and exiled for felony, why does
she find it, abnormal that we should
arrange matters in Syria with the
Angora government that Mr.. Lloyd
George himself invited to London last
March? If England considers that her
commercial interests require that Ger
many should be put on her feet AGAR,
and resume business, does she not
think that the interests Of the seven
French devastated departments require
that they be put on their feet and
restored to normal conditions? If Eng
land had seen Lancashire and Devon
shire RACED like pontoon by the Ger
mans would she have found it pleasant
to see France negotiating behind her
back moratorium with Germany at
the expense Of her ruined counties {?
ii England believes that peace in the
Far East-and in tho whole world--can
be safeguarded by common under
day, did she want to exclude France
from that understanding
Such are questions that come to
mind. leave the answer to others
Friendship between peoples is similar
fg> nj Ieh LAk - J.