Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-05-01
LLOYD O AT N
NNE cannot help adrniring the
splendid ideals of the British


splendid ideals Of the British
premier at Genoa. His dream is of
a sort Of federated Europe organic
ed to prevent war in the future. 1t
is very much the same dream that
Woodrow Wilson had, and the
British premier is experiencing
much the same opposition that our
great president did both at home
and abroad. At home he has bitter
personal and political enemies only
anxious to see him defeated and re-
moved from office. Abroad he has
to encounter national jealousies
and national selfishness. France is
in no mood to help him. Germany
desires nothing so much as to see
4 split between the allies that de-
feated her. Russia is playing poll
tics for home consumption and also
DESTROYS of a split among the allies.
It is hard and rocky ground at
Genoa on which to SOW the seed of
peace propaganda. A less deter
mined ma than Lloyd George
would have given up long ago. Per-
haps he will have to do that yet.
But so far he has been fighting
bravely against all discouragements,
and has saved the conference from
going to wreck several times. Ger
many and Russia, and even France,
has given assent to the peace pro-
posals of the British premier "in
principle" That phrase does not
mean much as we learned at the
Washington conference. While the
French delegates were accepting
in principle an agreement between
all the powers that they would
wage no wars of aggression during
a stipulated term of years, the
French premier was making
speeches to the effect that if Ger
many did not pay indemnities due
in a few weeks France would en-
force payment by marching her
army into Germany. The Spring
field Republican thus comments on
the saber rafting speeches of Pre-
mier Poincare of France, and their
effect at Genoa:
Under other circumstances the
utterance of the French delegation
at Genoa recently in favor of a
compact against aggression would
be both welcome and cheering. The
actual circumstances are such as to
make its value problematical and
even to East some doubt upon its
sincerity. For while M. Barthou
and his associates were speaking in
this strain at Genoa, Premier Poin-
care at Barbecue was making pub
lie announcement that on May 81,
when the Germans must either ac-
cept the terms laid down by the
separations commission or default,
France would assume the duty of
maintaining the full integrity Of the
treaty of Versailles. He ardently
hoped for the cooperation of the
allies, but declared that France
under the treaty had the right to
act alone: We shall not suffer our
unfortunate country to succumb
under the burden of r~eparations
alongside of a Germany that does
not make the necessary effort to
discharge her debts
This in itself would be a stag
gering blow to the conference at
Genoa which is seeking a basis for
a real peace, but Premier Poineare
strikes at it e more directly. IF
the French delegation cannot go
ahead with the work at Genoa on
the conditions agreed upon, then we
shall have with great regret to dis
continue our cooperation in the
conference, for the c Of
which we have done all we cam
From such utterances the worth Of
the declaration of the French dele
gates in favor of a compact against
aggression may be measured. Cor
respondents at Genoa have praised
M. Barthou for being more concili-
atory than his instructions from
Paris warranted. But M. Barthou
is not a plenipotentiary; on the eve
of the conference the premier took
the unusual curse of comforting
upon the delegation only limited
powers. At Genoa Barthou is not
on a level with Wirth, Tchitcherin,
Facta, and Lloyd George, and what
the French delegation says there
has no weight in comparison with
what Poincare says in France. The
speech at Barbecue raises again
the question whether the confer