The Washington herald., 1922-05-07
continred From pnae one.


hesitation or mental reservation
there ares others which either can
not or have not yet shown any will
ingness to do SO. And accepting
human nature for what II is. one
must acknowledge that there is in
many. cases at least colorado justi-
fieation for such refusal.
Frontier Lines Are SnnE.
1t is easy to imagine France ano
Italy, France and Belgium, France
ana Spain. France and Great Britain
agreeing to respect each others in
te gritty. AS between France and
:ritain. Spain and Belgium. there "a
not the smallest contemporary evil
. ience of any desire to seize terri
:ory on invade sovereignty. As be-
tween France and Italy there is, on
the Italian part. little bitterness
surviving over Tunis and there are
n few extremists who dream OF ac-
quiring Nice, Corsica and Mentone
just as similar perfervid patriots
dream of taking the Canton OF
Ticino from Switzerland Yet one
may say safely that, for the mass
OF Italians. the frontiers that exist
are accepted.
When, however. one comes to the
question. of the frontiers between
France and Germany one plunges at
once into into the bog. So also does
the student who considers the new
boundary between Belgium and
Germany, which gave to Belgium
certain areas once German. Will
Germany accept the restoration OF
Alsace-Lorraine to France as final
nd f.nn
tinucs to claim and German school
books to emphasize German title "a
the Reichsland of 1914.
Considers German Debt.
And this German state of mind is
balanced by a French. All France
believes Germany is planning wal
of revenge. Therefore most French
men believe that. as long as Ger
man spirit is what 1t is, French
troops must stay on the Rhine
where they can stay of right for
some years yet. under the Treaty
of Versailles. But a treaty guaran-
teeing integrity as between two
nations is meaningless If a portion
of the integrity is already violated
as in the case of the Rhineland
albeit with perfect legal warrant as
established by the Treaty of Yer
sailles.
Even morre Immediately pertine mt
is the question Of sanctions. Ger
many owes France many billions for
her war distinctions. billions which
have in no considerable part beeS
paid yet. So far Germany has dem
onstrated, quite naturally, deter
mination to avoid payment as far
as possible. But, a year ago. wher
she had refused to accept the de-
cision Of the Allies in the matter
Of reparation totals. she yielded tC
the threat of French occupation OF
the Ruhr and promised to pay.
Hopes Seem Blocked.
Now the French believe, with OBJ
vious reason, that II you once
abolish their right, which exists ir
law. to occupy German territory, II
now to the point. refuses to pay
then the reparations amount Is a:
good as lost. the war Is lost and
France Is bankrupt. But il France
has the power to invade and the
right and does not resign either
then a treaty Of mutual guarantee
's quite meaningless. for one mus
always confront the possibility. Sc
forth in Poincare's Bar-le-Dut
speech. that France will march into
the Ruhr.
The effort to bring peace. tC
stabilize European conditions by
the adoption of Lloyd Georges lit
tie plan Of following the Washing
ton precedent breaks down, then al
once. before the two obstacle:
which have so far be-devilled the
whole European situation for three
| years. namely reparations and Sc
Curity for France. And obviously
we are then thrown back upon the
same vicious situation which has
persisted from Armistice to Genoa
Ask Meaning of Treaties.
How can one reconcile the
Georgian plan with the European
facts of today? Lloyd George be.
lieves and finds ready credence al
home and in America. that In some
fashion the mere signing of a d. =
ument pledEing mutual respect for
territories would establish peace
But Belgium had treaty guaran-
teeing her neutrality in 1914 and
that treaty became the immortal
scrap of paper" when the world
war broke.
Moreover. France was attacked in
1914. deliberately attacked by =
Germany which planned to destroy
her. How then can France be ex-
pected to attach real value to a
treaty which can have no more
sanctity than the famous Belgian
guarantee? As for compelling Ger
arations. and everybody. comedies
there is some sum which Germany
is able to pay-how can France
have any hold upon Germany il
she resigns the power to invade
Germany, if Germany refuses sat.
isfaction under the law?
Fear French Occupation.
1t is true that French occupa.
ton of the Ruhr would set Europe
by the ears. postpone economic re-
constructiop. probably bring new
war and fresh chaos. 1t is true
that such chaos would postpone
British prosperity and even work
hardship in the United States. II
is clear that such occupation, there.
fore, would do material and per.
haps fatal injury to Britain, tc
Italy, to many neutral European
States. Therefore il is manifest
why most European States sci
their face against such French
action.
On the other hand IL is equally
plain that If Germany does not pay
france is ruined. fscally ruined al
once. politically ruined presently
for the burden laid upon her smaller
numbers would be intolerable
Therefore, the smallest regard fol
the future of France must leaC
every Frenchman to refuse to sacri.