Evening star., 1922-07-30
Joint VIEWPOINT
NEED OF EUROPE
Crossed Policies of Paris
and London HaltS
Sterilization.
PREMIERS ARE BLAMED
French Publisher Believes Lloyd
George Will Vary His Plans to
Accord With Poincare.
PREMIERS ARE BLAMED
GEORGE FREDERICK GRIMALDI.
BY ANDRE TARDIEJ.
Former French High Commissioner
to the United States.

! BY ANDRE TARDIEJ.
! Former French High Commissioner
to the United States.
| By Gable to The Star.
| PARIS. July 29.-Premier Poincare
seems waiting to be asked to visit
Premier Lloyd George. while the lat
! ter seems in no hurry to arrange for
a conference. What l said last week
! that the Franco-British relations lack
confidence and frankness. must again
accord between France and England
there can be no feeling of stability
in Europe. l still believe that dur
ing the last two and one-half years
| the two governments have falled 10
approach the subject from that view
point. Yet it is to their mutual in
tercst SO to do.
Almost every day prominent Amer
leans come to see me. They tell me
they are in Europe seeking informa
ton. From what they tell me l draw
two impreSsionS-frSt, that sound
American opinion slowly is realizing
that the war wounds from which the
world is suffering won't be healed by
simply saying, Europe doesn't inter
est u.s." and. secondly, that America
never will consent to participat ting in
European affairs so long as there is
any disagreement between French
and English policy.
Tardieu Not Surprised.
This latter does not surprise me,
for when 1 was high commissioner in
Washington 1 noticed every time
there was divergence between
French and British views American
co-operation hesitated and coo,ed
while when, thanks to Lord Readings s
and my own efforts, harmony pre-
vailed, American cooperation was
complete.
Undoubtedly today's circumstances
are dissimiliar. but l think the prob
lem Is the same at the bottom. To-
day. as yesterday, before turning to
America it is necessary for France
and England to show their capability
of accomplishing something by them
selves. Take. for example. the inter-
allied debts. So long as London and
Paris say. I'VE can't do anything
without America" Americans will
think everybody's got together to get
their money, and naturally will re-
sent it, But suppose France and
Great Britain, without consulting the
, United States, settled their debt prob
lem by mutual sacrifices. in later con-
versations with Washington they
would have decidedly increased their
moral authority.
Views Must Converge.
Official statements say the London
cuss the conclusions of the repara-
tions commission. the guarantee COM
mittee report. etc. That is good. but
it's all details. What Europe needs
is a comprehensive general policy in
stead of bookkeeping. If England
has an insular view of European life
and sees it from without. then France
should set against this conception
the views of the continental states.
Once these two theses are confronted,
the points of contact and divergence
Immediately will appear.
regret exceedingly this prelimi
nary work has not been done. The
day when Lloyd George realizes that
the devastated countries cannot aban-
don the compensations promised them
by treaty and Poincare understands
that after two years Of mistakes we
must at last find a means to get these
compensations by solidarity, that day
a clear Anglo-French policy which
will get results will be created. And
when that day comes the United
States can say that order has re-
turned to European affairs and it can
venture in without risk.
That; of course, is only ordinary
common sense, but it is not negligi-
BILE because common sense has gained
more victories than subtlety.
Copyright, 1927