Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-27
BY FRANK Fl. SIMONDS.

N ATURALLY enough the progress
! N of the London Conference has
served to obscure for the mass
l. Y of the American people certain
very important developments
which have been taking place con-
comitantly in Europe. To be sure, the
| development of Franco-Italian bad feel
| ing, a by-product of the peace negotia-
, lions at st. James Palace, has attracted
( attention, but by contrast little or no
compromising progress has been noted
In Franco-German ana Policeman
relations.
Yet it is not too much to say that
on the whole the current year has seen
| a gain in the basic conditions of the
relations between the nations on both
sides of the Rhine, the consequences Of
which may be difficult to exaggerate.
And, of course, improvement in rela-
| tionS between Warsaw and Berlin have
| their part in Franco-German relations.
| The ratification of the Young plan
accords, both by the French and Ger
man Parliaments, was not only in it
| self a circumstance which may we'll
mark the final stage in the liquidation
! of the World War, but the language of
Tardieu in defending the agreements
has produced something little short of
| a sensation, not only in Germany, but
all over Europe.
| Tardieu Relinquishes Coercion.
For, in fact, Tardieu, under pressure
from the Left, from Herriot the Radical
and Blum the Socialist with surprising
frankness conceded that, whether Ger
many fulfilled her obligations in the
matter of reparations or not, France
was no longer in a position to under
| as sanctions and in its extreme form
illustrated by the occupation of the
Ruhr.
Between now and the end of June
the last French troops will be on the
move out of the occupied area of the
Rhineland, which amounts to a reduc-
ton by four years and half of the
period fixed by the Treaty of Versailles
To be sure, the question Of the Sarre
Basin remains open, but on both sides
OF the Rhine it is accepted that this is
matter of trade, not territory, that
France will make no further effort to
prevent the return to Germany Of this
valuable coal region.
Tardieu and France have, then, had
| good press In Germany and the great
| experiment in Franco-G German economic
cooperation has been forwarded by an
enormous reduction of the causes for
political friction. The policy of Strese-
mann has borne fruit, even if its author
4
the realization. In but a few weeks
Germany will have recovered her free
dom, and her soil will be no longer held
to ransom by foreign armies, the SYM
Dol alike Of her defeat and her weak
ness.
AS between Poland and Germany the
Hague settlements were hardly less i'm
portant. BY mutual agreement mass
| or claims and counter claims have been
swept out of the way. All the intricate
and troublesome PREPARATIONS and dam
age litigations have been removed from
the slate, and in place tentative COM
merctal agreements have been reached
WHICH promise to end the tariff war
that has lasted for five years to the very
real disaster of both countries Polish
agriculture and German Industry are
now to profit by new tariff schedules.
Italian Offer Rumored Rejected.
| This Franco-G German appeasement is
Of utmost importance at the moment
because the events at Londin have I'M
mistakably moved the Italians to turn
once more toward Berlin, as they have
turned frequently in the postwar years,
seeking an alliance which would put a
term to French influence on the Con-
tinent. In Europe the statement has
been made in quarters which deserve
attention that direct proffer passed from
| Rome 10 Berlin and was rejected; this
may be an exaggeration but 1t must
have some basis of fact.
Having to choose between italy and
France, there IS no reason to believe
that Germany would prefer the former.
provided no issue such as that of de-
layed evacuation divided Paris from
Berlin. The German resentment over
the alleged deSertion of their Italian
ally during the World War remains one
Of the most vital of postwar mem
cries. was told, the last time was in
Berlin, that this proposal Of a German
Italian alliance was regarded in politi-
cal circles as little more than an at
tempt to blackmail France into African
concessions and that in the end Ger
many would pay the costs.
At all events, Germany is not en-
barking upon a new system of alliances
designed to enable Italy to replace
France as the dominant Continental
power. And the chief grievance which
might win support for such a policy
disappears with the application of the
Young plan and the completion of the
evacuation Of German soil. While Ger
many Is equally unlikely to make any
new political alliance with France, the
extension of economic combinations
which has already gone very far, will
doubtless be pushed still further.