The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-12-04

cAi PERSONALITIES, nave got lnto this
dispute.
1t may help to clear the issue Il
we disregard the attitude Of the two
governments in paming the sides to
the dispute. and II, instead of speak
ing of the French" or the British
hides, we speak of the "Keep-Ger'
many-down' and the "Give-Ger.
many-a-chance" sides, or. better. II
we call them the '.Insisters," who
insist UPON the uttermost farthing
IF repayment and penitence from
Germany, and the ''Relievers," who
don't. For 1t is upon Germany that
the whole dispute turns.
"Insister" Party.
There Is q very powerful Tn
ulster" party In Great Britain; there
ls a growing Believer" party In
France. And while France has been
steadily "Insister" since the armi-
stice, Britain and the British gov
eminent has changed round from
"Insister" to "Reliever" in the last
year or so. This change has pro.
duced extraordinary strains and re-
ordinations between French and
British political groups and individ-
uals, as such changes of front must
always do. Such disputes often
make far more noise than deep and
vital national misundersta ndings,
and 1t is well that the intelligent OBJ
server, and particularly the Ameri.
can observer, should distinguish the
note Of the disconnected party man
in a rage, from the note OF genuine
patriotic anger.
The beginnings of the present
trouble are to be found in the Yer.
sailles conference. There the only
''Relievers" seem to have been the
American representatives. Those
were the days of the British khaki
election, when Hang the Kaiser"
and Make the Germans Pay" were
the slogans that carried Mr.. Lloyd
George to power.
u. s. for Moderation.
For about four months the dispute
went on between moderation and
overwhelming demands. America
stood alone for moderation. The
British insisted upon the uttermost
farthing at least as strenuously as
the French, and 1t was General
Smuts-of all people-who added
the last straw to the intolerable
burden OF Indebtedness that was
then piled upon vanQuished and
ruined Germany.
And both America and Britain
were parties to the ARRANGEMENTS
that give France the power, the
Shylock right, of carving into Ger
many and disintegrating her more
and more. If Germany fail to keep
up with the impossible payments
that were then fixed upon her.
The position Of the French gov
eminent in this business Is. there
fore, a perfectly legal and logical
one. France can adhere. as M.
BRAND says she will, to the treaty
OF Versailles; she can flout and dis
regard any disposition of the Wash
fngton conference to qualify or re-
wise that treaty; and the British
government. in a hopelessly embar-
raised and Illogical position. can
appeal only to the hard logic of
reality.
Russia's Breakdown.
Britain ID much more dependent
upon her overseas trade than
France, and 80 the British have
earlier realized the enormous injury
that the social and economic break
down of Russia has done and the
still more enormous injury that the
breaking up of central European
civilization will do.
You are quite within your
rights" these newly converted Re-
levers say to the obdurate Insisters,
but you will wreck all Europe"
That idea of the possible obstruction
OF civilization has not yet entered
30 many minds in France as 1t has
in Britain. Germany is nearer to
AZ ho 70 n,st
OF a renascent and affective Ger
many Is greater in france than in
Britain.
In the French mind. the possi-
bility Of German invasion for re-
venge twenty years hence still over
shadows the possibility of an eco
nomic breakdown in a year or two
years time. The British are nearer
the breakdown and further from the
Germans. That is the reality Of
this Franco-British clash.
Nasty, QuarreIsome Matter.
Upon that reality, bad temper.
party feeling. personal spites, IRA
tional preJudices are building up a
great mass of nasty, quarrelsome
matter. And the French govern.
ment and the French Nationalist
majority are pressing on to naval
and military preparations that dis.
tinctly threaten Britain. It Is no
good pretending that they do not do
SO, when they do. The French sub
marines are aimed at Britain.
Empty civilities between Franco
and Britain are Of no value in a case
or this sort. Both countries are be.
Ing worried By their Internal politi-
clans, and both are in a state of
financial distress and raw nerves
IL Is not time when elaboration
ana clear reasoning are easy,
But when we get down to tie
OF the case. we find
that the antagonism comes ont to
these two propositions that arc NOT
necessarily irreconcilable: Cd That
Germany. for the good of the whole
world, must not be DESTROYED fur.
ther, but instead. assisted to keen
upon her feet Relievers), and In
that Germany must never more be.
come a danger to France Qnsisters.
Completely ReconcilabIe.
And these two propositions arc
reconcilable and this
clash can be entirely
cured and ended by one thing and
by one thing only, a binding Ali.
ance, watched and sustained bv n
standing Commission, of France
Britain, America and pos.
q txT n,,d