New-York tribune., 1922-10-22
|. the Tiger, Stirs 10 Another Tempest in France

wrongly, he has always maintained
that a policy OF colonial expansion
was contrary to republican principles
and drained the strength which France
ing threat of danger from across the
Rhine, II he gave Office In his cabinet
to joseph Caillaux in 1906 ii was be-
cause Caillaux, then considered the
best financial brains In France. was
not the tainted Caillaux whom Clemen-
ceau imprisoned and disgraced in 1917;
If ho has consistently worked for an
entente with England, even when his
countrymen accused him Of trying to
sell out to Edward VII and Lloyd
George, 1t was because he. more than
most Frsnchmen, saw the rising of tho
Prussian flood and where help could
be expected to stem It.
1t isa delightfully."- easy task to-day to
show what faulty instrument the
Treaty of Versailles was and how far
short it's authors fell Of curing the
world Of all it's ills. Some one has said
that people deserve the kind Of gov
ernment under which they live, and he
might have added that nations generally
deserve the kind Of treaties they make
between themselves. The Treaty Of
Versailles was not French treaty nor
Ciemencean treaty. 1t was world
treaty--thc product Of more quack NOS
trums, easy remedies for chronic dis
eases, overstepping national ambitions,
old grudges and sinister interests than
have ever gathered In one place at
one time in the world'a history. Ii the
treaty which was horn in the heated
cross-eyed at It's birth. the fault lies
not 80 much with Clemenceau es IL
does with each one Of the nations
and individuals who came 60 Paris
in 1910 with an az TO grind or q pet
theory TO try ont. Subsequent events
have shown that the Versailles Treaty
pratty accurately marks the present
stage Of the worlds political develop
ment.
Clemencesu is accused In Franco of
having staked too much on the con-
tinued collaboration of tho Allies when
he helped to frame the treaty. He
had not counted on the fact that Amer
lea would go homo and slam the door
shut, and that England would proceed
immediately to the practical business
of building UP German market for
her goods at the expense Of repara-
tions. Until the present time tho ac-
cusation has seemed well founded.
Mr.. Wilson was repudiated, Mr. Lloyd
George soon forgot, and the guarantees
which France was TO have had never
materialized. In the long run, how
ever, it Is yet to be seen whether
Clemenceau, when he pinned his hope
on the two great sister democracies
of England and America rather than
on the possession Of q strategic Sron-
tier on the Rhine, was not more far.
sighted than great many French
men, who think to-day that France
was tricked out Of her rights. There
are those who still believe that though
he failedsdna getting signatures he did
chart the way for a continued CO.
operation of the three great nations
that stand for democracy, and that his
coming voyage Is not for the purpose
OF honbarding Mr.. Wilson and Amer
leans generally with reproaches, but
rather TO reiterate his lifelong faith in
republican France, to explain her stu
alton and to recall the ideals and COM
mon purposes which America and
France have fought for and share in
the world to-day.