The Washington herald., 1921-12-04

In the larger sense the row that
/ we have on our hands in Washing
ton today was made in Fleet street,
although as a consequence Of Cur
IONS latest statement II has now
spread to Downing street. In ochcr
words. what began as a newspaper
quarrel has today expanded into Il
battle between the foreign Offices.
vt the bottom Of the present dis
putc les the essential fact that
Great Britain and France, having
totally different interests in the
world. and particularly on the con
tincnt Of Europe. find themselves
consequently at odds. This inevita-
lie and unendinG collision is ac-
rCntuatcd by tho fact that for CEN
.r.es there has existed between
tire two people an extraordinary
CeErcc of mutual Incomprchensi-
hi'ty and corresponding amount
- suspicion and worse.
When NJ. BRAND came to this
country he came with the hope Of
accomplishing one OF two precise
t'3iuSs either gaining for France
Treaty or guarantee against German
-S-resSiOR, signed by the United
S;a'cs and Great Britain. or a rec
ON zion Of the right Of France to
iiais. provision for her own defense
IA accordance with her own views.
1T thc latter proved 10 be the maxi
U;um possibility the French premier
hoped to be able to get some kind
IS an oppression Of public opinion
which would indicate that France
AS not morally isolated and that
her. recent associates in the war
did not believe the charges of i'm
fTcrialism OF chsuN inism which had
been made against her.
Vt the very outset VI. BRAND dis
covered that an alliance was inlpos-
siblc. on the other hand. he found
both Mr.. BalfOur and Mr.. Hughes
sympathetic with his statement that
France was reducing her armies but
must DC the judge of what reduc-
lions were safe. Mr.. Balfour's re-
spouse to NJ. Brands great ora
torical effort was not only gener-
Gus in phrase, but was unmistak-
ably the expression of a man who
was deeply moved himself and de-
sired to go To the limit of posi-
bility in emphasizing British appre-
citation of French sacrifices and
French difficulties. Whatever has
Eeen done to make trouble certainly
Mr. Balfour was not responsible.
British Diner on France.
The real difficulty was and re-
mains that there is in England a
profound difference of opinion as to
France and French policy. This
difference of opinion is based upon
TWO radically varying conceptions
Of British interest. The one group
would stand with France, would
Of taa
:, nd seek to RESTRAIN Frenh policy
from within an alliance, not from
the outside. When one criticises
The British attitude toward France
it is essential to recognize that
there is in British opinion, repre-
scented by many eminent journalists.
newspapers and public men, Il
friendly feeling for France which,
,perhaps, finds no counterpart in
French sentiment toward Great
britain.
BY contrast there is also in Great
s;ritain very large public senti-
Hcnt which suspects France from
of old. and although demanding
that France should forget Luden-
durff while he is still alive, finds
II impossible to rid itself OF appre-
hcnsion of Napoleon century
after his death. II is out of this
group that there has emerged that
lone series Of attacks upon France
which. when continued in Wash
ington, have led to very grave con-
sequences.
So far as GERMANY is concerned, 1t
would be difficult to imagine a
greater divergence of Interest than
that between Great Britain and
l..
country Of forty millions OF people.
capable of feeding all of its popula-
ton. having valuable colonies ito
be sure but dependent neither upon
its colonial markets nor upon the
markets of the world for its own
existence. Never having become in
dustrialized to the degree of all the
,rther great powers, the paralysis of
the Industrial system of She world
As result of the war has had very
fttle effect upon France. Thus, for
example, when unemployment In
England passed the three million
mark. that in France had hardly
reached eighty-five thousand
Careless of German Collapse.
II follows then that France has
no domestic or economic reason to
hold back in demanding that Ger
many pay for wanton destruction
in the war because of any appre-
tension that extreme demands
might lead to the economic disin-
tegration of Germany, with the cor
responding overturning OF the
whole economic system Of the
world and ultimate injury to France
herself by the reflex. France can
economically and industrially sup
mort an extreme policy toward Ger
many without running any great
risks to herself
Vow. the situation as to Great
Britain is exactly the reverse. On
,bc island which holds England.
scotland and Wales. and is much
less than half the area of France.
rs - population. of approximately
millions. In the nine
tccnth century the Industrial de-
v.Iopment OF Great Britain was
suclr that it became. in fact, a vast