The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-02-20
FRENCH ATTITUDE
VITAL FACTOR IN
WORLDS REVIVAL
Ar ms Farley olicy
Linked With Future
Policy.
By MARX SULLIVAN.

In the world generally, Is not only
Important as part Of the immediate
ly recent history of the conference,
but also constitutes the largest single
factor in the relation Of America TO
future conferences; In the big matter
OF reparations. In the present strained
relations between France and Great
Britain. and In the whole matter of
world sterilization Let us. there
fore, consider IL with some care.
II Is a subject as to which II Is not
easy to pass judgment. Those who
have prejudices one way or the other
have found II easy to arrive quickly
at an attitude Of either thoroughgoing
condemnation or of apology. I found
myself from time to time sharing the
feeling that France was acting
ugly" and that she made threats OF
actions which would have rendered
the conference a complete failure
But at the same time I kept constant
ly recalling the conditions which might
readily cause almost any OF US to act
ugly under the same circumstances.
These conditions and facts may not
be a Justification, but to q syppa-
thetic mind they may make for Come
degree Of extenuation.
America AecIains Foeh.
During the months Of October and
November, America acclaimed Mar
shall Foch in a triumphal tour from
coast to coast. and presented him.
among other evidences Of honor and
esteem, with twenty -nine college de-
grees. a baby wildcat and several
trunkfuls OF other trinkets. and with
York Bricklayers' Union. These
things are not picked out for mention
merely for purposes OF satire but
rather because they were typical
American expressions OF regard for
Foch and France on the part of all
elements Of the American public. On
began France had the strongest sort
of hold on American feeling.
But on January 81. during the clos
ing week Of the same conference. the
French Ambassador to Washington,
NJ. Jusserand. in words that reflected
his awareness of a completely re-
versed state OF feeling in America
about France said:
in the course OF the last few
weeks the country that I have repre-
scented in America for nearly twenty
years has been censured with extreme
severity and / might use another
word. The letters have been receiv-
ing, the articles l have read. the con-
versations in which / have taken part
all this shows a very grave, sert-
Gus misunderstanding is persisting In
the minds of many as to the ideas OF
France. her fate. and her aspira-
tons"
ReyersaI During Conference.
Now. obviously. the thing that in
feTvened before November and Feb
urary. the conditions which caused q
change between a generous almost an
exalted. good will towards France,
and a serious irritation against her,
arose during and out OF the Washing
ton conference.
When the French delegates ar
rived at the conference they were
mt by this spirit of hearty good
will on the part OF America, and so
far as every appearance showed
had in their own hearts the feeling
which should correspond to this
good will. The speech with which
President Harding opened the con-
ference. the plan for limitation OF
armament which Hughes recited
and all the INCIDENTS of that spec
tacular opening session were re-
ceived both by the French delegates
here and by the people of France
with applause. The dispatches from
Paris to America the following day
summarized the reception of the
Hughes plan in France as having
appealed strongly to the Gallo
Imagination" and the leading news
papers Of France said that the
Hughes plan reflected 1.-The ideal
ism that is close to the heart of
America"
French Feelings Hurt.
But il this opening was aus
picious. several things that began
10 happen almost Immediately Gre
ated and reflected a trend in the
other direction. Both the French
delegates here in Washington and
French newspapers at home began
to show signs of wounded sensitive
ness 1t was said that France was
being ignored. one French news
paper complained Nat France was
out of the picture"
These things were true. The first
subjects with which Mr.. Hughes
dealt during the opening week OF
ment and the Anglo-Japanese al
lance As to the first of these sub
jects. France was not regarded as
a principal party: naval armament
was treated as IL it were primarily
the concern of the three big navy
nations. Great Britain. the United
States. and Japan. As to the sec
ond OF these subjects, it was. obvi-
ously the primary concern OF the
same three nations.
From these conditions arose the
fact that during the first week or
so of the conference Hughes was
constantly seeing Balfour and Kato,
but only rarely seeing BRAND. The
newspaper men who were following
all the delegates closely observed
this. One day NJ. BRAND left his
hotel and escaped the sight OF the
newspaper men for a few hours.
When he returned. under the some
what excited questioning of the re-
porters as to whether he had been
seeing Hughes, IL developed that NJ.
BRAND had been doing nothing
more vital in international rela-
tions than paying a visit to the
movies
Felt III-Trested.
There was much more Of the
same sort Of thing, and out of it
arose many incidents which were
trivial but which continuously re-
fected a present feeling on the part
of some of the French delegates
that they were not being treated
very we'll. In that part Of the world
Of Washington which has to do with
dinners and receptions there was a
constant buzz OF gossip and or
stories rejecting wounded feelings