Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-28

wv explosion of French press
and public opinion over the
Hoover proposal to save Ger
many from a political and economic
collapse, which was Enthusiastically i'm
pending? No question has been more
frequently asked in the past week and
none has been more baffiing to the great
mass of American people.
Moreover, irritation over the pres
ent incident has been accentuated by
resentment surviving from other oc-
casions when France has disclosed a
similar attitude. In fact. one can say
that, almost without exception, every
time the United States has ATTEMPTED to
accomplish something internationally
in the postwar period. it has sooner or
later come into sharp collision with
France. with disastrous effects for the
American program.
Thus at the Washington Naval Con-
ference 1t was the course of the French
which prevented a general limitations
agreement and confined the results to
the battleship detail And, exactly in
the same fashion. it was a similar
French attitude which rendered i'm
possible any five-power treaty at Lon
don two years ago and restricted the
harvest of this conference to a three
power treaty with the famous eScalator
clause. Now, for third time, French
opposition seems destined to limit If
not to block another American under
taking.
French Resentment Traced.
When one seeks to explain this
French attitude it is clear upon the
smallest examination that 1t arises from
two circumstances, the first relatively
trivial, the second much more vital.
Thus the manner in which our Govern
oy1f Hoe OF out tie n
dertakings has invariably produced
sharp resentment in France, while the
thing we have set out to do has been
judged unfavorable to French interests.
AS to the manner; before the Wash
ington Conference there had been a
long series of exchanges between WASH
ington and London. Our own Govern
ment was unconcerned about French
naval strength and for it. the major
question was to bring about an adjust
ment of British and American naval
strength. on the basis Of parity. There
was no deliberate intention to ignore
the rights or offend the pride of France.
Nevertheless the French came to
Washington with sense of attending
an Anglo-Saxon party and, once ar
rived, they were permitted to cool their
heels in the New Willard Hotel while
the Anglo-Amer;can-Ja japanese dele
gates discussed and formulated a prof.
Get of agreement The French dele
gates resented this treatment bitterly,
Viviani went home in a huff. AS for
Sarraut. who remained, to him the
treaty when framed seemed no more
than document drafted without re-
gard to France and submitted for the
French to sign on the dotted line.
Hughes Causes Upheaval.
Accordingly, he refused to sign and
N1nCEod Arm INH,
development, Mr. Hughes appealed to
Paris over the head of Sarraut. In
doing this, he saved the battleShip
detail of the Washington proposals,
but he produced the fall of BRAND,
who at Cannes a few weeks later was
suddenly greeted with the news Of a
political upheaval In the French Parlia-
ment, largely the result Of the WASH
1ngton affair, and was obliged to re-
sign,
In the case of the London Confer
ence, the process was identical. Wash
ington and London had long discus
sions. Then Ramsay Macdonald made
his dramatic excursion to the Rapidan
and beside that stream the President
of the United States and the prime
minister of England came to an agree
ment, which was later produced at Lon
don under circumstances which were
unfortunate. Thus, once more, the
French, still Smarting over the Wash
ington Conference. were condemned to
attend new international gathering
in the role of second class power.
French Apparently Ignored.
Finally, in the most recent affair,
while Secretary Mellon has been in
London and there have been a long
series Of obvious discussions not alone
between the American and British gov
ernments, but between the bankers of
the two countries and while, in addi-
ton, the same exchanges have taken
place between Washington and Berlin.
eliminating in the direct request of Mr..
Hoover to Marshal Hindenburg for a
statement of the German situation,
neither unof1cially or officially has
there been any similar solicitude to
discover French views or enlist French
participation.
OF course, the explanation now, as in
the past, is not discoverable in any pur-
pose to affect or ignore France. After
having rather tardily walked up to the
actual situation In Germany, the ad-
mintstration, which had been steadily
minimizing the danger, saw the Situa-
ton for what it was and acted swiftly.
Nevertheless, the fact was that the
French government read the news of an
American official action vitality affecting
the interests OF France in the news
papers and was already familiar with
the fact that, while Britain and Ger
many had been consulted, France had
been ignored.
Prestige Is Important.
Now. however absurd and trivial such
considerations may appear in Ameri-
can eyes, they are of utmost importance
alike in French and European. On the
other side of the Atlantic the question
OF prestige is always important More
over, when the administration actually.
although without any deliberate intent
ignored France. the French position in
Europe was compromised and French
influence reduced. The political ad-
mtr1istration at home. already in a
critical situation, was compromised,
since it was held responsible for main
tanning the dignity of the country
abroad and the position in Europe Of
the French nation was similarly COM
promised.
One can say quite definitely then,
in the light of three significant cpl
SodeS, that until our Executive and
State Departments are willing to con-
Htder French feelings in the process Of
forwarding their own purposes, whether
of disarmament or of economic re-
Mobilization, they will have to reckon
with French opposition. And what Is
similarly unmistakable is that this
opposition can be fatal to all these
projects, for the position of France
today is such that she can block all
international cooperation or agreement.
British Favoritism Seen.
- t. fa -