The Washington herald., 1922-02-26
present disoenitor.' and worries q
TIVE seSsrste :view.. ~ 1

= = Z j q
~. TIVE 5seSsrste views. frA,
The Ansrican who, accepts the
French view. of the sEuropeap pituat-
ton VIII be convfncedS that .Frisce. II
a victim Of a selffsh en{f f-cold. .bfeodsd
British policy The AmeficSn Who
accepts the Britfsh view sees Btitsin.
and the world PARTIALLY paraiyzed be-
cause Of French, madness growing
out Of a militaststsc mania
and and, partly a-t out Of e surviving sheii
'Bnt each of these vissss h. wholly
one-slded and neither IN any sense
covers the real situation. The trouble
Is that, the European, situation Wilt
not have any immediate or vide
spread Improvement as long as
Great Britain and France are not able
to- compromise their rsspectiye. POLL
cies, Up TO. the present time the
British have not felt the necessity. Of
compromising with France because
they have steadfastiy believed first,
that the United States would support
secondly that France. finding herself
isolated, would reluctantly but necss-
sarily submit to British dicta ton and
direction. It Is. fifty years aimee the
British thought Of France as q hrst-
class power. and up to the present
moment they have not been ready 70
recognize that the last war, at least
for. a period o ,ftime, restored
France to the position which she
mad occupied Before 1870. = "
Now. In the situstion. which ex.
lists at the moment. one Of two
hinEs must happen Either there
must be war or there must be, CONF
promise. AnSlo-French relations
cannot 20 on as they are. As T
have said, the British situation Is
moro desperate than the French be.
cause. whatever, the nscaI discoin-
TORT or France, herr people are still
employed, there has not been, since
the war UP to the present. moment
any considerable unemployme Mt.
and since half Of the population OF
France is agricultural there is not
likely to be any phenomenon. like
that discoverable in Great Britain
At any time. during the last two
years. =.
There is not anybody in tie
world WHO believes that France
and. Great Britain are on the verge
Of war. War, would spell suicide
for both countries. Whatever ex-
ASPIRATION and! Indignation the
British may. feeL,toward the French
1t is. plain that war. with France
would further postpone, not In, the
least accelerate, the restoration of
the European markets. 1t is equal
ly true that there are very mark ed
limits as to the extent to whicn
France can risk isolation. II the
immediate necessities of Great Brit
ain are more compelling than those
of France il is not less true that
in the end France would collapse II
she set herself squarely in the
pathway of the economic recon
struction OF the world. 1
We are then, in my Judgment, ap-
preaching tho point Of an Anglo
French adjustment. In both coun-
tries passions are at the moment
very high. Both countries pro-
foundly misunderstand the neces-
stiles Of the other; both countfieS
totally misinterpret the. facts which
explain the policies of each; but In
ever-increasing numbers the people
Of both countries perceive that
compromise and adjustment must
take place. It is. I believe. the
very' acutene.s of the present sit
uation which holds out the unmis-
taxable promise Of Improvement.
% .,-- Not Mnstaristfe.
. II the French were actually mil
'itaristic. IL they conceived Of using
their army In the Napoleonic fash
fJn.r to overrun Europe, to annex
vast territories, to set up separate
states under French: control OH
either bank Of the Rhine, then the
situation would be hopeless. But
despite all the British, assertions to
IlIe contrary. everyone knows thu,
fhe French have no such intention.
They are keeping their army chief
ly because in addition to givipg
them security against attack, II
gives them nm apparent, IL vain,
force by. which to obtain German
payment. The thing which the
French want beyond all else" is
rnohey-money" to pay the" cost of
-econstructinE their. devastated
area and balancing their budget
overburdened by. the cost Of the
war. =.
by contrast. the thing which the
British want Is the reopenins. Of
the worlds market and beyond all
else the Central European markets.
SO that I'll cir millions can get; to
work and their economic and in
dustrial life be resumed. States
manship has got to find a way to
reconcile the two CONFLICTING neces-
sfties. Neither the Frencffman nor
the Englishman n is going to succeed
in. imposing his policy upon the
other II the deadlock goes too
long both may be ruined. The thing
thst the Americans do not see with
sufficient clarity Is that the posi-
ton Of Britain is even. more 9fs-
turbed than that OF France. and
that France Is not. as many inas-
inc. going to ruin alone. -
Now. as between Great Britain
and France. the United States oc-
eupies a peculiar position. It is .
fact that we share the British and1
not the French view Of what IL
needed in Europe. We share the
British view because. our interests
are like the British Our dnenhploy-
ment persists. our farmers suffer.
our cotton growers are hard up be:
cause the Euopean market Is not
restored. And We share the Brit
ish delusion that because our in
terests Gail tor 'thc rcopeninS OI
the markets of Europe French poll
icies must be modified and changed
without regard to the French COM
ception. of French. necessity. AZ
the present moment, Congress is
pressing for payment Of the debts
owed us by France because French
policy has reused irritation and
protest in this. country. =
Results Unlikely.
Yet the truth is that such a