Evening star., 1921-12-31

of US all. If this resolution as
amended by Mr.. Balfour is accepted
by every nation round this table. as
applying to themselves and their
conduct in any future wars as be-
tween themselves, then 1 think, il I
may say SO. that France will have
regained much of the ground which
l believe has been lost between us.
largely through a misunderstanding,
but genuine misunderstanding in our
hearts. If that Is done all her
friends. among whom 1 am proud
to count myself one. will unfeignedly
rejoice"
Admiral de Bon said:
After thanking Lord Lee from the
bottom Of my heart for the flattering ex-
pressions used by him in regard to me,
wish to declare that l consider 1t a
great happiness and great honor in
my life to have collaboIated during sew
eral years, especially through the most
trying hours of the war. with my friends
of the British admiralty, among whom
have made deep and lasting friend
ships which will endure as long as l
live.
Il have been deeply gratified by Lord
Lees statement. Since the beginning of
this discussion wo could not comprehend
the misunderstanding which seemed to
have arisen between us, because-l state
it openly and declare it most emphati-
cally-there is nothing more foreign to
our minds than the idea of attacking
friend. 1t is not even conceivable to US.
Our only regret is that this misunder-
standing has lasted so long and that we
did not know that it was based on an
article written by Capt Castex.
He is, it is true. an officer who be-
longed to the general staff, but who was
attached to "a literary section. He was
,l,..H- oil .,f 1..tt "a -
was published in he Revue Maritime
which is, to a certain extent. an organ
recognized by the French navy, but on
its title page it bears statement to the
effect that the French admiralty and
general staff decline to assume any re-
sponS5ihty Whatever as regards the ut
teralces contained in the articles. which
responsibility rests wholly with the
authors of the articles. Each writer is
free to express his own opinions. but he
does SO at his own risk.
Not Views of France.
"The charge should be laid at the
door of the man who wrote that ar
ticle. and to him only. The article in
no way represents. thank heaven, the
views of the French navy.
Capt. Castex brings up an old ar
gument regarding the torpedo boat.
was telling you only the other day.
in regard to the submarine, that we
were going through once more the
same stages of discussion which
marked the appearance of tn etorpedo
boat. There has been no instance in
history when the appearance of new
weapon has not unleaShed a sort OF
fanaticism in the ranks of the parti-
sans; there are always extremists VINO
wish to impose their ideas. and make
fantastic statements to that end. But
in, h.,s md q
in and public opinion keeps the ulti-
mate judgment within reasonable linn
it's.
AT the time when frantic enthusi-
aStS believed that torpedo boats were
the noblest of inventions, abominable
things appeared in print which had no
effect on actual practice or on the doc
trines adopted by the various govern
ments with regard to the use of tor
pedo boats. l can find no better way
Of condemning the article in ques-
ton.
THE author of that article has
written what we consider to be a
monstrosity. The French delegation
has repeatedly stated that it unre-
servedly condemned the practices of
the German submarines during the
late war and that it desired that a
declaration strongly condemning them
should issue from the conference and
be spread over the entire world.
Makes Formal Reputation.
II beg Lord Lee to believe that the
French navy has never harbored any
idea of using methods of war practiced
by the German submarines, for which
we feel only horror. not only against the
British empire, but against any other
country whatever
Il maintain that the honor of the
French general staff and of the French
navy. which have a record of centuries
of struggle without a single stain on
their eschtcaeon. cannot be sullied by
the article in question. This article is
the work of al officer who is man of
letters rather than a sailor. and
formally repudiate it in the name of the
French navy"
Mr.. Sarraut said although I must
await the instructions of my government
with regard to certain points in the res
olutons proposed by Mr.. Root. l have
no need of any instructions to associate
my sentim. nts with those ot Admiral de
Bon. whic;l I Solemly confirm as head
of the French delegation. or to Of
fer the French governments formal re-
pudiation of those methods of warfare
which nave just been mentioned.
II hope that these explanations
thank Lord Lee for having. given us the
opportunity to make them-will be of
the misunderstanding which. to my pro-
found regret. was arising between us
a misunderstanding of which l did not
comprehend the reason or the nature. l
hope and believe, moreover. that we may
all of US draw lesson of mutual con-
fidence from this incident which Will
permit US in future to avoid misunder-
standings of this sort by forming the
habit Of frank and forehanded eXplana-
tions. The misunderstanding which has
arisen might easily have been avoided
even before it was thought of by di-
rect and friendly conversation in which
we would have been glad to take part
had the opportunity been offered us. In
future, as far as we are concerned, we
shall continue to have the same sincere
desire to explain our point of view be-
fore public opinion has been nodded
unGer such circumstances as We have
seen.
Well Aware of Criticism.
lord Lee has uttered a word with
which I shall not reproach him. for
do not wish to use the word re-
proach' in speaking of friends. He
las spoken of the ground which has
been lost by France since these de-
liberations commenced. This phrase
is well known to us: we heard it
throughout the war: there were days
then when we lost ground or posi-
tions which nevertheless we con-
trived to regain Immediately. I am
we'll aware that every day in the
press we witness campaign Of bitter
criticism launched against us, against
the motives of France, to the end that
our country may be made to appear
under an aggressive guise Of impe
rialism and militarism. This very
morning there was an odious carica-
ture representing France trying on
the spiked helmet of Prussia. We
have borne these attacks calmly and
with serenity. not wishing to embil-
ter the discussion by replying to them.