Evening star., 1921-05-08
DENIES CLEMENCEAU
SUPPRESSED FACTS
Tardieu Disputes Lauzanne Charge Amer
lean Opposition to League Was Kept
From Publication.

, Lausanne declared that the Knox
resolution alone was acceptable to
! the United States; nothing in the Yer
sailles treaty was to be henceforth
! considered
Twenty-four hours later President
HardinG's address to Congress cate
gorically contradicted this news"
/ Another mistake as extraordinary as
, the others. Thus illumined with
proofs. the maneuver stands out
clearly On the French side it rep
| resents retrospective aggression
against the Clemenceau policy. led.
| with certain American help. by those
| trenchmen who for reasons which
| will reveal some day. have been his
relentless enemies for the past two
years. On the American side it rep
resents retrospective aggression
| against President Wilson's policy. led,
with certain French help. by irrecon-
| cllables who always combated that
| policy On both sides the object en-
, tirely is internal politics. But inter-
national relations. which ought to be
sacred to all parties. are used to serve
such an object. That is the great
danger to which 1 desire to call at
tention.
French Policy Toward U. $.
This much said, I will now state,
without fear of contradiction. what
was the French policy toward Amer
ica in 1919:
l. In law, the government negotiat-
ed with President Wilson. Consider
ing the American Constitution. quot
ed by President aHrding in his mes
sage to Congress, we could not nego-
tiate with others, although knowing
that any agreement must be ratified
by the Senate. The same situation ex-
lists in all democratic countries
2. In fact. in the only question
wherein President Wilson demanded
a Sarrifina nf
took precautions against non-ratifica-
ton in the following manner: Presi-
dent Wilson. backed by Lloyd George.
having refused to permit the occupa-
ton Of the left bank Of the Rhine be-
tween April 1880. 1919, secured the
adoption of the last clause of article
429. which provided that If guaran-
tees against German aggression were
lacking-meaning if Great Britain
cial military treaty-the occupation
of the left bank could be prolonged.
3. In other respects President Will
son accepted often, and defended, the
French theses
Therefore. it was the French gov
ernment's duty. dictated by purely
French interest, to hope that Presi-
dent Wilson would get treaty sat-
isfactory to France ratified. and to
help him to do so.
That is what the members of the
French cabinet did. notably Clemen-
ceau and myself, in speeches of Sep
tember "a and rs, expressing the hope
that the treaty would be ratified.
tating. Moreover. despite President
Wilson's illness. leaving the field free
to his adversaries for six months, the
treaty lacked only six votes Of ratifi-
cation in March. 1920. Anyhow. what
ever the final vote might be. it was
rnh ,nof' g h,,c
to assist the opposition, which was
fighting policy undeniably favorable
to France.
There is the truth. The peoples of
both countries must have it if the
basis of their relations is to remain
clear and wholesome despite the re-
grettable efforts of certain politi-
clans to the contrary. This truth is
summed up in three statements:
1. No anti-treaty manifestations of
cealed from the French. All were
published. Furthermore. it is alb
surd to think they could have been
of the Rhine. the only point on which
the French thesis suffered a tempo
rary setback. Clemenceau took ef- !
fective precautions against non-rati- |
fication. which are operative even il
America does not ratify the treaty,
pancy.
3. On the whole. tho Clemenceau
government, without meddling in
American internal debates, in which
it was not concerned. believed Presi- |
dent Wilson's policy was based ona
spirit of solidarity better for France
than the policy of the irreconciliables,
as pursued for two years and affirmed
by Senator Lodge in his latest speech,
in which. abandoning his own reser-
vations, he goes over to Senator
Knox as against President Harding
and Secretary Hughes
Consequently, the French govern
ment of 1919 steadfastly hoped that
the Wilson policy would triumph. 1t
had perfect right to judge and to
act thus from the viewpoint of
French interests. and subsequent
events prove 1t was right
Copyright, 1921