Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-05-23
GENOA FRU|T[ESS.
SAYS FRENCHNAN
BY ANDRE TARDIEU
Former French High Commissioner
to America


(Leased Wire Service to The Journal,)
Copyright, 1929
PARIS, May 20.-One supreme
conclusion evolves from the finish of
the Genoa conference, namely, that
all of the European powers, with
their hundreds Of delegates and eX-
perts, conferred from April 10 to
May 10 without bringing about
single useful result. Impartial
judges will agree that this is SO.
There is room for reflection in
this. There was to be a great con-
certed effort toward economic recon
struction. 1t completely failed.
What can one say except that the
=, method was wrong? If success now
is desired then other methods must
be found
Lloyd George conceived the Genoa
plan at the end of 1921 along the
lines suggested by Keynes which he
had scornfully floutei in 1919 but
has since adopted. He offered this
plan as an economic one although it
was essentially political. He took
for granted that revision Of the
peace treaty was a prerequisite to
economic reconstruction. Starting
from the hypothesis Lloyd George
has struggled six weeks with fail
ure as the result. How can this
surprise you when you reflect that
there are half dozen states in CEN
trial and eastern Europe created by
the war, and the peace treaties
which will never agree to take any
such step. Thus we may conclude
that if we desire to do any con-
structive work economically it will
be better not to begin with -destruc-
tive work. Keynes and Lloyd
Georges thesis was that for econ
omic reasons it was necessary to
modify Europe's political charter
especially so far as it concerns east
ern frontiers. The result bellies
this. The soviets will not renounce
communism nor propaganda, the
European states refuse to allow
their frontiers to be brought into
discussion. Through failure to
recognize these plain facts all
hatreds have been sharpened rather
than appeased. Isn't time now to
try the contrary system recognizing
that the War-born frontiers are the
expression of nationalistic ambitions
and to start with this fact when
working for economic reconstruct
| ton?
With the problem thus clarified
we can see that the Anglo Saxons
have a large share of responsible
ity for the economic disorder for
which they blame the treaties. II,
when the armistice came, the Eng
| lish and Americans had not been so
quick to break the economic ties
entered into during the war, Europe
would not suffer so bitterly today
Ruined Europe is told to unite and
sacrifice individual interests to the
common welfare. When, early in
1919 the United States and England
forced dissolution of the inter allied
economic organism refusing aid to-
ward averaging or limiting the ex-
change crisis; when the English
mines, because of high export prices,
lost their foreign markets; when
Anglo-Saxon countries, creditors of
the whole world, undertook to oblige
debtors to pay without taking into
consideration unpaid sums owed
these countries by others, it hardly
can be said that London and Wash.
1ngton were inspired by a desire for
solidarity and reconstruction.
Unhappily no authority sponsors
this plan. France had a wholly
negative policy at Genoa and The
Hague meeting, which the United
States wisely declines to attend, will
be a pale continuation of the eff
forts which proved their futility at
Genoa. Nothing will be accomp-
llshed there except further irrita-
ton of Europe's sore spots.