Evening star., 1923-04-22
Tardieu Cites Only Method
i for Breaking Germany's
Passive Resistance.
BOLD STROKE NECESSARY
Writer Says Spirit That Won the
War Will Force End Of
Existing Crisis.
BY ANDRE TARDIEC.
Former French High Commissioner
to America.


to America.
BY Gable TO The Star.
PARIS. April Embarrassing pres
sure only will break Germany's
passive resistance in the Ruhr. The
lesson of the war is being ignored
by the Belgian and French premiers.
When Clemenceau came into power
he said. in reply to the questions
about his contemplated policies: II
will make war" That spirit won
the war The same spirit today by
Franco and Belgium would end the
German crisis in a hurry. All that is
needed is a demonstration of force
and the declaration: We are in the
Ruhr to win
The principal work of the latest
Franco Belgian conference, however,
although not yet officially confessed,
was to neutraliZe the effect of Lou
cheur'S visit to London. The two gov
ernmentS in their official communi-
que declared they intended to in
tenSify their occupation and main
tain ii until paid. This was exactly
the opposite of what Loucheur told
Ronar Law and the English statesmen
he conferred with.
Yet at the same time the communi-
que was issued Premier Poincare, for
reasons too difficult to guess, brought
out the old schedule of May 5, 1921
and long out of date. It is the yer,
essence of contradiction with the
Ruhr policy. being founded on Ger
man promises To pay when aided by
an international loan.
The occupation OF the Ruhr. Poin-
care always has insisted, was found,
ed on productive cages. If we were
To go back to that ancient schedule
we may still hold the gage, but il
Will have ceased to be productive.
In three and one-half months. &c
admit the truth. the Franco Belgian
forces have insutiiciently exploited
the gage which would have brought
the German resistance to an end. 1t is
absurd for the press to confuse the
pressure on Berlin with the exploita
tion of the Ruhr because the more
we exploit the Ruhr the greater mus
the pressure on Berlin become. Ii
other words the more the allies gel
from the Ruhr the stronger will be
come Berlin's inclination to yield
The Ruhr will become a productive
gage only when it produces money
from taxes or more coal than before
the occupation.
Thus far neither object has beer
alta aimed. No taxes have been col
lected since last January excepting
an inconsequential amount, while. a:
for the coal. the average for the las
three days has been 500 tons and ouI
aim is said TO be only 10000 tons
whereas in 1922 the Ruhr furnished
France $4,000 tons daily.
Of course the reason for all this il
that We have not done what wa!
needed to achieve real results either
from military or political stand
point. The number of our troops are
too small. We are utilizing $4,000
men, whereas Foch. in 1919 estimated
three times that number would bt
needed. These skeleton regiments
any effort at exploitation.
Cites Political BIunders.
Politically we blundered at the out
set by telling the reich we were no,
seeking military occupation, bu,
simply economic supervision, thus
clumsily giving German manufac-
turers and the government a lega
preteXt for resistance.
When we arrived in Essen the
manufacturers demanded whether we
were suspending the legal authority
OF the German state. We replied no
and thereby Handicapped the entire
enterprise. Thyssen and his consorts
Immediately decided, under order.
from Berlin. to refuse to make de.
liveries to us. These same gentle
mn cited this reply when arraignec
before the court martial at Mainz fol
resisting our requiSitions.
Throughout the French and Bel
eianS have minimized political and
military action where a bold stroke
would have won. Then to Anglo-Sax-
on protests we could have replied
that the movement already was q
success.
Until the entire policy is changed
and we frankly substitute our owr
authority for that of the reich. we
cannot hope to compel Berlin to re-
cede from it's present position.
Copyright, 1921