Evening star., 1922-04-05
Lloyd Georges Genoa Program.


No possible fault can be found with
Mr.. Lloyd Georges exposition of
things which it is desirable to accom-
plish at Genoa. In that respect, his
speech before the British house of
commons was a cataloguing of the
obvious. He had no difficulty at all In
being explicit and wholly candid. But
his speech left much to be desired IN
the way of explanation as to how
these desirable accomplishments are
to be brought about. 1t is not sug-
gested here that the prime minister's $
failure to throw light upon the
methods to be pursued was due to any
lack of candor. The probability is that
MIR. Lloyd George does not know. He
sees the vital need of doing certain
things and hopes that they may be
done. If the conference at Genoa can
not find a way to do them, then may
the gods be merciful to Europe.
At the one thing which is most
needful should be done, and the doing
of which would make the others more
easily possible, the prime minister only
hints. But even in the hint there Is
encouragement. He does not say bald
ly that France and Poland and the
other states which are maintaining
great armies must reduce them before
there can be economic stability, but he
does say that the existence OF great
armies in Russia produces some justl-
fication for the huge armies of other
Countries" and he intimates that Rus
sia will be called upon to cut down
her armed forces. By implication We
are led to assume that he then will
expect the other countries to curtall
their military expenditures.
Mr. Lloyd George makes a better
case than even the spokesmen for
France have made against the con-
sideration of reparations at Genoa. He
does not deny that there must be a
readjustment Of the present lmprac-
teal reparations program, but he is
unwilling to ask France to take her
case into a conference of thirty ma
tions, some of which were enemies and
others Of which were neutrals with
leanings toward the enemy. And he
denies that the enormous bill for repa-
rations is what is responsible for the
economic disorganization of Europe.
The trouble, he thinks, arises out of
the fact that Germany did this damage,
not that she is called upon to pay for
it. The damage is there and must be
repaired, and if it is not repaired by
Germany it must be repaired by the
nations which suffered it. Conceding
that Germany cannot pay now, he
thinks she will be able to pay in the
future, and he sees no reason for seal
ing down the bill. 1t is a good argu-
ment he makes, even though he ig-
nores the widely accepted view that
the bill presented to Germany was
grossly in excess of the actual physi-
cal damage to property, upon the cost
of repairing which the amount of repa-
rations was theoretically based.
When it comes to Russia, Mr..
Lloyd George is bold to the point of
being audacious. He is for the recog-
milton of the soviet government and
for the re-establishment Of diplomatic
relations with Russia. His only con-
cession to the opposition is that he
might wait six months or year be.
fore sending a British ambassador to
Moscow and receiving one from Lenin.
doing business in the interim through
charges daffaires. He presents a
formidable set of conditions with
which the soviet government must
comply before recognition would be
extended, but expresses confidence
that Moscow will comply with them.
He bases this confidence on Lenin's
announcement of last November, in
which the Russian dictator admitted
communism had failed and declared
for the re-establishment of capital, ''to
a certain extent" Mr.. Lloyd George
strangely overlooks the fact that only
a few weeks ago, in addressing COM
mIrifst congress at Moscow, Lenin as
serted that the economic retreat" of
the soviet had ended, and that there
would be no further concessions to
capitalism. 1t may be that the British
prime minister has private assurances
ga. this was only a bit of bluster, but
he makes surprisingly frank acknewl-
edgment that he has but little knowl-
edge as to what is going on in Russia.
But, regardless as to how great or
how little the chances that his pro-
George now has formal license to go
ahead and try it out. His fortunes
are bound up in the coming confer
ence, for there will have to be a
reckoning with parliament when he re-
turns. The world will fervently hope
that Genoa shall prove TO be Lloyd
Georges Austerlitz. not his Waterloo.
The beautiful ,JaDaneSe cherry trees