The Washington herald., 1921-12-29
France Getting Even for
Death of Treaty of
Versailles.
JAPAN EXPECTED
TO FOLLOW SUIT
Pact of Guarantee and
Aid on Indemnity
Only Solution.
By FRANK Fl. SIMONDS.

Why did the French do it," This
is the question heard on all sides.
Doing Il" means substantially
wrecking the American plan for a
Limitation Of naval armament, for
everyone recognizes that the real
competition OF the future will be in
= '-crGft. submarines lad auxiliary
ships.
The answer is simple, but not
wholly paIatablc. The French have
played the return game balancing
the American wrecking OF the
treaty of Versailles. or. more eN-
actly. the treaty Of guarantee
which Britain and the United States
gave France in Paris in 1919.
Three years ago France proposed
certain things following the allied
victory - among these the Derma-
UCnt occupation of the left bank of
the IShine and the annexation OF
the Sarrc Basin. Mr.. Wilson op-
20 5ed these proposals and. IN com
gauy with Mr.. Lloyd George, Of
icrcd France. in place Of the pos
session Of the left bank OF the
Rhine, an American and British
-u"rantec against German aggrcs-
sion.
Francc Asks Guarantee.
Everyone knows that the Ameri-
,aa Senate refased later to accept
this treaty Of guarantee. anc
France. having sure ndered her
claim to the Rhine barrier. was leS,
to whistle for the payment of the
price offered. More than this: From
the signing of the treaty of Paris
onward the French claims against
Germany have steadily been at
tackled by the British and even by.
the Americans.
France came to the present con-
ference quite ready to share in
general disarmament plan. but not
in the least willing to repeat ner
Paris experience To persuade her
to agree to Limitation of land or
water armaments certain things
were very necessary, the first Of
which was some sort of guarantee
against Germany like that con-
tanned in the treaty of insurance
signed by Mr.. Wilson in Paris.
why yiviani Left.
But the French delegates had not
been here many hours before they
discovered that there was no chance
OF obtaining anything save possibly
permission to keep their armies.
British propagandists of the Wells
type day after day as5ailed France
in the American press. and Ameri-
can newspapers followed suit.
Meantime the French delegation fCl
itself substantially ignored by Mr.
Hughes, whose interest was con
centrated upon British and Jara-
nese issues.
Long ago. when VI. BRAND was
leaving the country. he uttered
half jocular warning about the sub
marine. Weeks ago the American
% delegation received forecast of
the French naval proposals. But
from first to last they seem stead
faStly to have refused to admit
that the French We're in earnest
and to have continued to ignore the
French policy. II is no secret now,
for example. that ~. Viviani went
home because Of his INDIGNATION
over the way France had been
treated about the four-powcr treaty
which was wholly prepared by
three powers and referred to France
for signature alone.
Ignore. French Peoples.
Not even when the French put in
their ten battleship" proposal WAS
there any real appreciation on the
American side Of the actual state
Of facts. Mr. Hughes and his as
sociates continued to believe that
the French would not dare to hold
,uf against American public opin-
I'M and relied upon American agita-
,ion to bring France around.
All the time. however, French
public opinion had been mounting
also. The French saw the Wash
ington conference as an Anglo
saxon AFFAIR in which American
pressure was being applied to ad-
kvance British interests. Thus. while
Mr. Hughes was correct in assum-
ing American public opinion would
he reused against France, he failed
70 appreciate that French public
opinion was already aroused both
against his program and his
methods.
Claims Are Ignored.
Out of all this mishandling has
come the present mess France has
eatIy declared that even at the risk
af Incurring American wrath she
intends to pursue her own ends and
defend her own interests. To all
arguments based upon the meaning
a. American friendship she publicly
refers her critics to the Anglo
french American treaty-done In
Paris by Mr.. Wilson and done to
death in Washington by the party
now in power in the Senate
From the days of Paris onward
the French position has been that
world recovery. desirable to Amer
| lea commercially. a matter of life
and death to Britain in all ways
would not be had at the expense of
France She has presented her
claims based upon her death lists.
iher vsged cities. and her ruined |
[nelds. These claims have been sys-
! enla ticslly ignored and opportunity
RHing offered France has chosen to
Emphasize them.
The net effect Of the French |
Nurse may ruin the Washington |
Continued os Pass FtSs.