Evening star., 1932-01-24
Lausanne Failure Causes
Pessimism i'm London
BY A. G. GARDINER.

LONDON, January 23.-Postpone-
ment of the Lausanne Preparations Con-
ference has caused q wave of the deep
est pessinism to sweep over this coun-
try. 1t is taken to indicate that Eu-
rope Is hopelsssiy out Of hand and
drifting without leadership to economic
collapse.
The immediate cause of the postpone
ment was the failure of the negotiations
between France and Britain to reach
any approximation In regard to policy,
with Britain wanting q drastic final
settlement of the question Of repara-
tions as vital to save Germany from
collapse and France standing infiexihly
for her sacred rights and unprepared
to make any concessions in regard to
reparations unaeeompanied by an
equivalent scaling down of her war
debts, which, in view Of the American
attitude, was out Of the question Any
modification of the French position as
result of the coming elections seemed
ruled out by an article by Edouard Her
riot in the London Daily Telegraph,
which insists ON the sacred rights"
formula as stifiy as Premier Laval.
As the payments under lapse during
the moratorium do not become due
until December, it Is assumed the sit
uation can be held in suspense until
late Summer, but this calculation ig-
nores the menacing internal situation
of Germany, where the breakdown Of
the conference has had the worst pos
sible repercussionS. Anxiety is felt here
in regard to both the political and eco
nomic consequences.
Chancellor Bruening's position now
Is in the gravest peril. His chance of
holding Adolf Hitler at bay depended
on favorable atmosphere at Lausanne.
This hope gone, he may be driven to
declare Germany In default, in accord
ance with the findings of the Basel
Committee Of Experts This would pre-
cipitate an economic crash, which
Britain is most anxious to avoid. The
government is being urged by the re-
sponsible press to diSsociate itself from
the French and make the best agreed
terms possible with the Germans, on
the principle that it would be better
for England to cancel the debt herself
than to let Germany repudiate her
debt to England. 1t is argued that this
course Is best calculated to make France
hesitate to force Germany to naked
Reputation.
Moreover, 1t is anticipated that the
Lausanne fiasco will have unfortunate
effects at the disarmament conference.
1t has fortified the feeling in Germany
regarding the moral undertaking of
the Versailles treaty that the disarma-
ment Of Germany was preliminary to
general disarmament, and the Geneva
Conference may be faced with the
claim that, as the undertaking is not
being fulfilled, Germany has the right
to arm with the rest. This challenge
might lead to an appeal to The Hague
Court, with consequences involving the
existence Of the League of Nations and
the gravest aggravation of the Franco
German situation.
All this assumes that Bruening re-
tains his power, but this is uncertain,
especially, in view Of Lausanne, which
has further strengthened the "Nazi"
challenge. The closest students of
Germany observe a fatalistic drift
toward acceptance Of Hitlerism as in
evitable, with the specter of Com
mmism in the background.
* X
It is not only these European con-
siderations which enforce appeals to
the British government not to let the
situation drift and to arrange the
earliest possible revival of the Lau-
same Conference. Equally urgent is
the necessity of defining its position
In regard to reparations and its atti-
tude toward America. The London
Times strongly reprehends loose talk
about presenting common European
front to America and gives prominence
and approval to an American writer's
article maintaining that European
states must help themselves before
there can be help from America.
However, all sections of opinion agree
that the settlement of reparations gov
erns the problem of war debts, and
they agree on the urgency Of solu-
tfon of that preliminary question, II
possible, by an agreement with France
and, II not, by direct agreepent with
Germany.
After ALL" says the Manchester
"our next and more painful
discussions will be with America. We
shall have an unpleasant task EXPLAIN
ng to them that we are not able to
pay what we have agreed to pay. II
would at least be more pleasant to
our inability to pay to our
generosity in having remitted the Ger
nan debt rather than to our rreed In
having forced Germany to repudiate n . ,
lConvrirhk yoao