The Washington times., 1936-03-09
MAY DEMAND
SANCTIONS
BY LEAGUE
Duce in Key Position
In Any Settlement
OF German Crisis
BY H. r. KNICKERBOCKER

and concrete turretS briStled with
artillery trained in the direction
of Germany'S new Rhineland army
today, and from Switzerland to
Belgium, patrols of French mill
tary airplanes cruiSed as states
men of Europe feveriShly parleyed
to Stave off war.
Rallying from the first shock OF
Hitler's reputation of the Locarno
pact and reoccupation of the
Rhineland, France fell back on
her two main defenses: the IA
nous Maginot line of the most
formidable Notifications ever
erected in history, and the League
of Nations.
Expulsion Doubted
The French struck back with a
formGl appeal to the League Of
Nations Council to meet and con-
denim Germany; a brusque rejec-
tion Of Hitler'S memorandum: a
call for all Locarno powers to
meet, and the announcement that
the chief of the army general
staff has put the French Rhine
land forts at full war strength.
1t is obvious that France is
deadly in earnest in her intention
to defend herself with everything
from guns to legal paragraphs,
but 1t is not so obvious that she
is willing to attempt to expel the
Germans from the Rhineland by
force.
Contrary to the original impress
sion that the German troops in
the Rhineland numbered only a
few regiments, and were intended
as mere symbols" of recovery
Of German sovereignty, French
sources near the government now
estimate that 10000 regular Ger
man troops have already taken
up their positions in the Rhine
land.
May Ask Sanctions
These are exclusive Of the
militarized police, storm troopers,
Hitler guards, and others, which
the newspaper Excelsior reckons to
number 100000.
No Frenchman believes Ger
many wants to attack France now;
but the suddenness of Hitlers
moves and their fatal effective
ness each time from his with
drawal from the League until
today makes all Frenchmen wish
to prepare for the worst.
The French may ask the
League to impose on Germany
the same kind of sanctions the
League has been trying to i'm
pose on Italy.
But if the League did so and
the sanctions proved effective, it
would mean G any would
make war.
Yet if the League does not
impose sanctions. it means the
League can hardly continue with
any show Of justice to impose
sanctions on Italy.
League in Dilemma
Another awkward hurdle for
the League is the fact that Italy
is a member of the council and
would scarcely vote against Ger
many the sanctions so hated by
Rome.
Thus the League appears to be
at this moment in an even worse
mess than France.
Hitler offered France mutual
demilitarized zone on both sides
of the frontier. France rejected
this, because it means he asked
France to tear up her billion dol
lars in Notifications.
Hitler offered 25-year treaty Of
non-aggreSsion. France rejected
this, because it would mean that
she promised not to attack Ger
many even if Germany attacked
the Soviet Union, which France
has pledged to protect for the
sake of the SovietS' promise to pro-
tect France.
II Duce To Benefit
Finally, the French declare, it IS
only common sense to refuse a
new pact based on reputation of
an old one. and ask: If Germany'S
signature Of yesterday is no good,
what good would new one be?
Meanwhile, MuSSolini stands to
win handsomely.
Without him, no sanctions can
be voted against Germany.
AS joint guarantor with England
of the Franco-German frontier un-
der Locarno, he holds the power
to nullify any attempt to present
GnrmanV with a united front
His army of around a million
men is already mobilized.
League at Stake
He can hardly be left out of
any settlement of the present
German crisis, but he would hardly
cooperate unless the League took
sanctions off him.
All this adds to the worries of
young Anthony Eden, British for
eign minister, who repeatedly in
tends to come to Paris today,
where he will meet the French
and Belgian premiers in an at
tempt to make up their minds what
the Locarno powers will do when
they meet Tuesday.
Eden and England now are
faced with the most difficult de-
cision since 1918, for Eden and
England have committed them
selves so deply to sanctions
against Italy that it would now
be a humiliating comedown to
admit they didn't dare to apply
sanctions against Germany.