Evening star., 1922-02-12
FRANCE WOU[DPAY
us. IN CHAMPAGNE
Sale Here of Liquor Declared
imperative if War Debts
Are to Be Met.
NV uyRaM X. MODERWELL.

nv cable to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
Copyright. 1872.
PARIS Feb. 11.-France wants 10
he permitted to pay part OF ner oeo'
tn America in champagne
It is becoming increasingly appar-
ant that the French harbor a curious
resentment toward the Volstead tenn
perance enforcement law and the
sipbteenth amendment to the Ameri-
can Constitution. Several promneht
Frenchmen have limited recently tuas
unless the United States allo"s ~
admission of champagne, an arIe
Of immense value IN the agg[e sse
Of French exports, France cannot see
how she will ever be able to pay her
debts to the United States.
France undoubtedly would nke 70
see prohibition modified by 1he
American Congress so as 70 permit
the importation OF champagne
Government Conference.
A government conference will be
held in March to consider methoos
for boosting French exports, and one
day will be given over to the wine
trade and the American market.
None of the public men with whom
the correspondent has discussed the
situation has any definite plan, and
all concede that they are treading ON
very dangerous ground.
Prohibition and its effect on France
constitute one reason for the notice.
able GOODNESS toward the United
States. Another is the resentment
almost every Frenchman feels over
tffer.American attitude on the repaIa-
lions question, which he feels Is un-
1t Is claimed that if the United
States wants its money from France
it must help France to collect what
is due her from Germany. French
men compare the two DEBTS IN strlk- M
ing way: The first as a credit given
by one ally to another for the prose-
cution of a common war, which credit
was expended almost wholly within
the United States itself, while the
other is reimbursement Tor wiiiiui
damage done to France by nation
which had been proclaimed an enemy
of civilization.
They recognize both as valid debts,
but if the whole world tells France
that she must scale down the Ger
man payments in the interest OF Eu-
ropean reconstruction, why not apply
similar arguments to the American
claim, they argue.
Not Declared Sentiment
Such logic, the French insist, is not
pure sentiment, but is based on q
fundamental principle Of Justice that
exists ABOVE business anu QOlltlCS.
The payments to the United States
can be made only in goods to the ex-
cess Of exports over imports. follow
ing the French point of view. This
argument when applied by the Erit-
ish financier, John M. Keynes. to the
German reparations in 1919 excited
violent opposition in France.
Then. in the second place, it is evil
dent that France is working for q
delay in the Genoa conference, 1t be-
ing felt that II this meeting Is sue
cessful it will give Britain the lead
ership in European restoration. In
connection with this the Quai d'Orsay
mas conceived a sudden admiration
for the league Of nations that is hardly
consistent with its attitude on former
occasions.
There are also indications that
France is entertaining the idea OF
making an independent arrangement
with soviet Russia. Kari Radek's
feelers in Berlin last week are COM
mented upon favorably by La Temps
and most of the other French news
papers. II the bolshevih can help
France to escape European isolation
she evidently has no scrup1es about
coming to terms with them.