Evening star., 1922-09-24
BY rHoMAs R. MARsaALL,

Vice Preai1ent Of the United
States.
F the motto Safety First" ap-
peals to the average Amerf-
cam then / suggest he take
with a grain of salt the writ
ings from Europe of any Of that
large body of ex-everybodies; in
Guiding myself, who have been
travelling over 1t with lightning
speed The more I see, the more
uncertain ] become. The more
hear, the greater doubt. I trust
no one will take anything I.write
as expressive Of an ultimate; fact
from which there is no escape. l +,
convey merely my own opinion,
gained. /. realize, by contact with
the few rather than with the
many.
When left America. the sub
ject of universal interest was the
rehabilitation of Europe. In
,tin,ately connected with this were
the relations between France and
Germany. Most persons believed
Iations between these two coun-
tries would be a great step to-
ward the restoration of the eco
nonic situation in continental
Europe, Quite closely allied to
this was the problem as to what
America could or should do touch
Ing those relations. ~
probably. ought not to have
formed an opinion on what I have
been seeing and hearing, yet.
nevertheless, I did. am con-
WINGED that Germany has not
changed her attitude of mind to-
ward the French republic. In
begun a system OF educa ton. both
by public speeches and private
talks, to put herself wholly in the
right with reference to the war
and France entirely in the wrong.
schooled in the belief that Ger
many cannot pay the indemnity,
will not pay it. and ought not to
pay 1t; that Germany was the vic
tim and not the aggressor In the
war: that France invaded her ter
ritory with armed forces. and that
the battles she waged we're purely
those Of self-defense.
The common sense OF mankind
must inevitably believe that the
Germans. hate the French. This
haired. accentuated by postwar.
bitterness and animosities. will
logically lead to trouble in the.
future. So far AZ l can ascertain.
the French limit their hatred to
the German military system. 1t
does not include the German peo-
pie. French bitterness Is directed
at the German theory of govern .
ment. which is still being taught.
4 X \ +
/ was at Rheims, which prior
to the great war was a city of
125.000 people. Its magnificent ca
thedral dated back to the four
teenth century-the cathedral
.whese Joan of Arc was conse-
Grated for her patriotic mission
and where most of the illust1ous
kings of France were crowned. 1t .
was "a city rich in historic Incl
dents, but of no military or
strategic value. Yet. because the
Germans were unable to drive the
French army back, they lombard
ed the town and riddled the cathe-
dral with shot and shell.
Fear of German militRrism was
voiced by residents of the city.
One man told me that his grand
fathers home was destroyed BY
the Germans in 1912. that 1t was
rebuilt and again destroyed by the
Germans in 1870, that his father
again rebuilt it and that again it
was destroyed by the Germans in
1915. Others with whom i talked.
expressed dread and fear Of the
militaristic ideas of the German
people. Point was made that Ger
many in twenty-five years would
have a population twice as large
as that of France.
X X X
One resident recalling that Bis
marks altered telegram led to the
Franco-Prussian war in 1870, to
the defeat of France and to the
treaty of Paris, pointed out that
IL fool. Eranca thirty wears to nav