Evening star., 1926-10-24
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Continued from First Page)
against the Americans held respon-
sible for the ruin of France.
And l cannot disguise my convic-
tiOn that France is slowly but surely
approaching the ultimate disaster of
national bankruptcy and complete
repudiation. The confidence of the
people has been destroyed, there is
little hope and there is no real lead
ership to do now what Clemenceau
did in 1917. When Poincare came in
he found that the Chamber was two
to one against the ratification of the
debt settlements and the Senate
three to one. He found, one must
find generally, a feeling in France
that even present ruin would be
more tolerable than what seems to
be the alternative, namely, enslave-
ment to America for two genera
tions.
am not here engaged in defend
Ing the French point of view or in
any sense justifying it. But it seems
to me of utmost importance that it
should be clear to the American peo-
pie what the French people, all of
them, believe of America. They be-
lieve that we have resolved for our
own profit to enslave France, to con-
troll it by financial levers and to use
the debt claims as means to pos
sess ourselves of all that is best and
most prosperous in French finance
and in French business. "The en-
slavement of Europe" which seems
an odd and even fantastic phrase to
Americans, is one of the most ia
miliar and accepted all over Europe.
but nowhere more than in France.
The resistance to the American
debt settlement is not a govern
mental or primarily political
thing. Business and finance in the
main advocate ratification; as a mat
ter of sheer opportunism the politi-
clans are divided. The true objec-
ton comes from the heart of the
mass of the people, who talk of the
American invasion in 1926 as they
did of the German in 1914 and with
out finding any reason to explain
nOunce 1t.
Better bankruptcy than foreign
servitude," that in a very real sense
sums up the present sentiment of
the mass of the French people to-
ward the American debt question.
I'VE are willing to pay what we can
pay, but never without an agree
ment that we shall not be asked to
pay beyond our capacity" And al
ways in the end in discussion with
Frenchmen one comes back to the
same question: "Why does America
wish to destroy us, why the hos
tility? 1t cannot be merely business,
because in the end 1t is bad bust
ness to destroy a great customer"
And always behind the question is
the inevitable suggestion of some
deep and sinister motive, some de-
sign to seize the control of Europe,
some combination of dollar i'm
perialism.
The franc falls mainly because the
French people who have money have
lost confidence in it and have taken
their money across the frontiers. II
falls because the burden of debt is too
heavy. and it is impossible to balance
a budget while a currency is falling
so rapidly that the additional returns
of a new tax are neutralized over
night by a fresh fall of the franc. The
present business activity is in the
main a delusion, as every political
economist knows. because it is no
more than a classic symptom of in
fation and in the end represents a
real export of capital.
X
The cost Of living mounts as the
value of the franc falls, the conditions
of living of masses of people become
more difficult, the possibility of social
unrest and disorder increases. But dis
turbing beyond all else is the tragic
sense of uncertainty. There is no man
in France, however. placed in finance
or business, who would venture to |
forecast for you what may have hap !
pened by this time month hence. All |
fear, a few hope, but no one pre-. |
tends to know
The Poincare government. the gov