The Washington herald., 1922-08-06
By SIR PHILIP GIBBS.

Last week / gave some plain
facts and figures about the situa-
tion in Europe which must be
faced before any kind of hopeful
settlement can be made. But. of
course, life is never conducted on
a basis of plain facts and figures
because one has to take into ac-
count such things as passion,
prejudices. popular emotion, end
less varieties of conflicting views
and interests.
1t may be interesting to my
readers IL / try to lift the veil
which conceals some of these hid
den forces now working in Euro
pean politics. Take. for instance,
the relations of France and Eng
land upon which the future OF
Europe utterly depends. Out
wardly there is a fairly clearcut
issue to be decided between Poin-
care and Lloyd George on behalf of
their respective governments II
is just this: If for the sake of
France agree to postpone or re-
duce the German debts. what Sc
curity will Britain offer In return.
what financial aid to France? The
fact simply is that the problem Is
enormously difficult because French
views on the minimum security are
in conflict with British views re-
garding the potential danger of
Germany in the near future. Also
they envisaget a close military
alliance between England and
France which isn't at all popular
in England where at the present
time all military alliances are in
disfavor, owing to the wave of
Pacifism among the masses OF
ordinary folk.
IrreconciIable Forces.
But if one digs deeper one finds
many irreooncilable forces pre-
venting an immediate plain settle
ment. In France distrust of Lloyd
George amounts to a secret mania
peasant shopkeeper and politician
unite in the belief he has deliber-
ately undermined French rights
with regard to Germany in order
to destroy French supremacy on
the continent. Therefore any
French statesman, whether Poin-
care or any other is in danger of
committing political suicide by
holding any conversation with
Lloyd George, that mythical, mon
strous, character of our present
world drama, il they lead to any
further concessions to Germany.
That distrust is sufficient in IT.
self to make heavy going. for
there can be no business arrange
ment without confidence on both
sides nor any boldness of vision.
Every representative of France
knows he will be disowned and
overthrown by his own people IL he
agrees to any compromise. BRAND
was destroyed for that very reason.
Poincare, whose cold nature. i'm
mense Intellectual obstinacy and
personal dislike OF Lloyd George
make him steel proof against any
sentimental yielding to the little
welshman, will be destroyed also
unless he strikes a bargain which
gives France much more than she
is willing to yield in return. That
makes the negotiation troublesome.
Cause Is Natural.
The cause of the French distrust
and dislike of Lloyd George is
natural and Inevitable. Having
signed the Versailles treaty he has
slowly and surely weakened when
ever the time came to enforce its
severest penalties. Having prom
ised the Kaiser's head to the Brit
ish people in election speeches, he
was very careful afterwards to
postpone and prevent any such ven-
geance. Again and again his hand
has been traced as the influence
which gave Germany respite from
fulfillment of payment in gold and
coal and reductions of other penal
ties. When the French occupied
the new German towns to enforce
their claims and afterwards threat
ened OF invade fresh territory, 1t
was the anger of Lloyd George
which revealed to the astonished
French his whole-hearted support
of that treaty which he helped to
make and which the French were
determined to uphold. Now, in
every Important speech the prime
minister pleads for the necessity OF
saving Germany from bankruptcy
though her default of treaty pay
ments means the financial downfall
of France.
Is 1t any wonder the French peo-
pie fail to understand this man
who made the treaty and then
spends his time breaking 1t? They
regard him as a dishonest fellow.
very treacherous. especially as they
are convinced that he gained
everything at Versailles for the