Evening star., 1925-04-12

CONTINUED from First Page.)
Rhine indefinitely, which can mean
! endless disturbances all over Europe.
| Meantime, Benes is going out to
! save his protocol by indirection. He
attempted to arrive at general security
| by one central grand pact Now he
| is going to try to get the same
| point step by step. by means of single
| arbitration pacts between nation and
| nation, until all are mutually bound,
/ when they can be brought together
| in one grand pact. which will be the
| old protocol. But at bottom lies
| the fundamental principle that the
! boundaries of Europe are made, and
cannot be remade without new wars,
and that the talk of guaranteeing
some and changing others leads to
! war, not to peace.
| Poland Czechoslovakia, Rumania,
Jugoslavia, Belgium, Greece, Italy
| and France all gained territory by the
last war; all feel in some measure
| threatened in the possession of 1t and
all have therefore Il clear reason for
| opposing the idea of any reconstruc-
| ton of the map of Europe. Most of
| these nations are also united directly
| or indirectly by treaties of alliance
| and defense, which insure co-opera-
! tion not alone in war but in peace.
| Therefore. 1T is patent how little real
! chance there is of any successful
| operation to bring about a limited re-
vision of the map of Europe in Poland
| or elsewhere.
Precisely the thing which has just
been attempted and failed was under
| taken by Lloyd George in the famous
Genoa conference of 1922, and it failed
| for the same reason, namely, that the
| central European states standing with
France. blocked the Lloyd George move.
| IIoyd George was all for remaking the
| frontiers of Rumania and Czecho-
| slovakia as we'll as Poland, Mr.. Cham
berlain has championed a much more
modest plan, but in principle equally
| obnoxious to all of the succession states.
He has encountered the same fatal op-
| position.
French View Unshaken.
1t is perfectly simple to understand
| why the British are unwilling to con-
Germ themselves with Polish or Czecho
| frontiers. but anxious to get Franco
| German questions settled, but the un-
derlying difficulty is that France holds
the view that war is just as dangerous
| to her IL 1t comes on the Vistula as the
| Rhine. and that war would come on the
| Vistula il Germany undertook to change
i Polish frontiers by force. Moreover,
| France, supported by the other Euro
pean nations with similar views op-
| poses a block which British diplomacy
! can neither break down nor wear down
| Favor German Expansion.
England is willing Germany should
| expand south and east, if she will accept
| the western situation. France believes
| that a. Germany which resumes the
process of expansion at the expense of
| other states will ultimately be danger
Gus to her in the west, and recalls
| poignantly the fact that Prussian at
| tacks upon Denmark and Austria in the
last century were the prelude to the at
/ tack upon France of 1870. The center
and east of Europe. in which Britain
is willing to have Germany expand, has
therefore decided and perhaps compre-
| hensible inclination to the French
| thesis.
And, as / have said, the middle of
| Europe has strong man in Mr.. Benes,
who has firm position at home. con-
solidated backing i'm the little entente
which he created, certainty of COM
munity OF interest in the main issue
with Poland, and it was Mr.. Benes even
| more than Mr.. Herriot who really gave
| the negative answer to Mr.. Chamber