Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-08-30


peace viii not be broken. that she will
NOT be dominated BY Germany OF by A
Central European bloc
But here comes the insuperably erest
difficulty Rightly or wrongly. that
same mass Of FTsnehnen who would
MAKE these sacrifices to win peace have
an impression amounting 20 conviction
that sfteT having paid the price they
would not gain peace. because Germany
would not be satisfied. but would ask
something more Rightly or wrongly.
I they believe that the mass Of the Ger
man people Is By nsture fnsatiaoIe
They fear. as one Of their statesmen
Delcssss. once put It, that II they
stretched out their fingers TO Germany.
the Germans would seize their arm,
their elbow, their shoulder, their whole
BODY
Do facts justify this fear which IS
rooted deep IN the soul OF zlnscst eVerv
Frenchmsn2 We must admit that thsv
do justify IT, in certain measure ct
least
We need not go AZ far back AZ the
deltIee Let us 60 back to 1929, only
two years ago. At no time since the
war had intercourse become easier with
Germany Stresennan had offered
and signed the pset of Loearno. which
regarding her safety The peynents
provided for by the Dawes plan were
being regularly and puncsus1ly exeeut-
ed. An atmosphere OF good viii was
prersi1ine On both sides Of the Rhine.
Then came the suggestion that the
atmosphere would ~ stiIl clearer and
intercourse still easier il France would
evacuste the Rhine completely Ave
Years IN advance. sac5Td'ne 10 the
H. IL
Vefe replaced BY less rieid nhachir1ery.
If Germany were TO De Tree of all con-
troll and guardianship. Trance hest
tated somewhat bat linaily accepted
the suggestion. In june, 1890, the
RhinelSnd was evacuated the Dawes
plan was superseded by :hs Young plan,
which reduced the yearly payments
from Germany. and al International
loan Of s200. 600 900. to which French
tent OF 500 ooo, 900. was granted TO
Germany.
Relations Badly Strained.
What has been the result? The re-
suit vas irritating demonstrations Of
the Steel Helmets in the presence OF
the former Crown Prince the elections
OF last September Tn which the ex-
trsmists displayed unexpected strength:
the construction Of Meet Of pocket
battleships which will necessitate s
fresh navel effort by France. the dis
agreeable surprise Of the Austro-Ger-
man customs union foTeshadowins the
revival OF the German scheme for Nit
teleurops and last bat no least. the
knockout Of the whole scheme OF rep
srations that mad been built up so
laboTiously
In fact never have relations been 20
strained. never has the stmosph-re been
20 cloudy. 50 with some loxic the
French people say. what was The use
Of our making these sacrifices? Things
have been going worse after them than
before Whit would be the u3e oil max
ing further sacrifices? Things would
grow still worse"
Above al, France feels that intArna-
tsonai treaties must be respected When
/ speak OF treaties SIN not referring
20 much to the peace treaties peace
treaty il. Of course, treaty m de fol-
loving var Victors and Vsneuished
ere face 70 face and. ineiuetably, the
/ yictora impose Their terms upon the
vsTiouished. so that the ysf1ouishea may
slTays, TO czrtatn ext1nt, claim that
they were net free and had TO submit
TO force But here / am particularly
referring 10 treaties or conventions cen
cluded long after tn. yer, when both
parties stood on equal footing and freely
pledged themselves.
Dawes Plan Cited by French.
Let US take some examples
The Dawes pl7n, which settled the
exasperating problems OF reparations
vas decided upon in 1924. It was not
imposed upon the debtors; thsy had the
full liberty Of discussing and accepting
II. Nevertheless six years later. ct the
request Of the d bsors, ii was superseded
bY the Young plan, which vas still
more freely discussed end which, a.
stated shove. carried important eonces-
saons and Obligation from the creditors
The Young plsn vas sol, mnly preIsated
as the anal conclusion OF the whole
centyaYe-sy. Nov. though the Young
plan has been In opera ton less than a
year. we her that it should be reyis-d
and medihed So very naturally you
CANNOT help hearins the French saying
IF IRE replace the Young plan. STIR
much trouble and with many new con-
. eessions, BY 3nother plan, what guar