Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-05-30
FRANCE MAY AVOID
MEETING At HAGUE
r,snd Of Events Since Genoa
Brings U. s. Closer to Paris
Oh Than to London -
cool TO LLOYD GE0RG {
ne CLINTON w. GILBERT

BY CLINTON w. GILBERT
s..N Corrsspondent Evening Public I<dser
,r..,,r,oht, 1878. bv Public Ledger Company
n washington. May 20.--The Admin
,.+ration is practically assured that the
r.sncb Government will refuse to take
nart in the conference on Russia Mt The
HMosue, This attitude Of the French
Iii either cause the abandonment of
ne proposed conference or its modifca.
''y Secretary Hughes has discussed this
.,h;ect three times recently with Am
sossador Jusserand. He has informed
Rance through her representative here
that the United States IL willing to
send an expert to serve on an inter-
rational commission to make study
~ economic conditions in Russia. The
..pert would be banker or an econo-
mist. not a politician. and stress is laid
on the words in Russia.
II is willing that Russia should be
renresented on such commission, but
only IL the Russian memorandum Of
Nav II is withdrawn as a basis for the
commissions inquiry. This memoran..
dum is made the basis Of the proposed
conference at The Hague.
The representatives of the other chief
Powers which took part ut Genoa-Ens.
land, Belgium and t1aly--have also been
informed of the Administrators post.
ZION. but the discussions have mainly
tekcn place with the French Ambassa.
dor. ~,
The prominence of the French in
+bcse negotiations shows the shift that
bss taken place in the international sit
mst;on. Our. closest contact with Eu.
rons used to. be through the English.
Nnw r. is through the French. The two
Powers working in closest harmony re.
ssrding Russia are now France and the
United States.
The pleasant little rapproche ement be.
tween the United States and Great
Rritain. in which the Washington Con.
ference ended, is now over. SO far over
tbnt one reads in the press evidently
inspired criticism of Lloyd Georges re.
cont speech in Parliament, calling the
British Premier to account for actions
md language which tend, so it is said,
to support the Soviet regime.
This Administration and Mr.. Lloyd
George began to drift apart over
Genoa. The British Premier staked
much on the Genoa meeting and this
,;oyernment did a good deal to wreck
his plans by declining to accept his
invitation. Americas absence and its
known views influenced the French in
their resistance Of Lloyd George Mt
Genoa. And whatever tho Administra.
tion thought at the time. OF the invi-
tation, it now thinks and says IN ap-
parently inspired newspaper articles
that tho Genoa Conference was miscon-
ceived and only served to arrest the
process of Russia's gradually yielding
10 the conditions laid down in the
Hughes note.
II raised, so the statesmen here say,
false hopes in the breasts of the Rus.
Mans and this relieved the internal
pressure upon the Soviet leaders. This
II, 80 to speak, count one in the indict-
ment of Lloyd George.
See Russians Misled
Count two is the repetition Of the
Genoa tactics in the calling of The
Hague Conference, which was in ef-
feet n prolongation Of the Genoa Con-
ference, with the added mistake, so 1t
10 asserted here, of still further mis-.
leading the Russian people by making
them believe that the Western Powers
would accept the Russian memorandum
Of May II as basis for the discussions
Of their future relations with Europe.
To the invitation to this second con-
ference the Administration replied in
stantly, before its terms had been
finally agreed upon, that it would not
its character, nor, moreover, one based
upon the Russian memorandum of May
IL. It would attend an economic con-
ference, not limited by this memoran-
dunn.
Receiving our reply the Prime Min.
listers at Genoa went straight ahead
with their plans for The Hague, paying
no attention to the Hughes objections
to them. This is count three in the case
against Mr.. Lloyd George, and 1t Is an
especially heavy count.
Having issued his invitations for The
Hague Conference Mr.. Lloyd George
went home to tell the British Parlia :
ment about Genoa and to seek vote Of
confidence from 1t. BY this time he was
chiefly interested in his domestic politi-
cal situation and in putting the best
color possible upon the Genoa failure.
Naturally he went the limit in present
ing favorably his policy at Genoa.
Count four in the case against Mr..
Lloyd George is the speech he made to
the House Of Commons when seeking his
vote Of confidence which Is held here to
have strengthened the morale of the
Soviets and Of the Russian people. In
particular, Mr.. Lloyd Georges refer
ences to the military potentiality OF
Russia is held to be merely playing
Trotzkys game of pretending that
Soviet Russia has vast force of which
the rest of Europe is afraid.
1t is this speech which has brought
out into the semi open official dissatis-
faction with Mr.. Lloyd George. But
the worst of the British Premier's Of.
lenses was the ignoring Of the American
reply to The Hague Invitation, which
was hurried TO enable the Genoa Con
ference to modify their plans for The