Evening star., 1936-09-09

France and Great Britain In the future.
This zone extends, I have been in
formed, from Liberia to the Belgian
Congo and includes: Independent
Liberia, the Ivory Coastal present a
French colony. the Gold Coast, Brit
territory; Nigeria, British colony,
and Kamerun, inundated territory.
DR.. Schacht, who is an excellent
mathematician and statistician. fig
ured out carefully that this territory,
enormous as it is, represents less than
the value Of the colonies which the
Allies took away from Germany after
the World War.
Peace Insurance Stressed.
He has pointed out to Premier Blum
and to Vansittart that it would b.
more advantageous for the future peace
of the world If Germany had all her
colonies concentrated in one sector,
separated from the main French
colonies in North Africa by the Sahara
desert and from South Africa by the
enormous territory which is the Bel
gian Congo. The fact that Liberia Is
an independent state and a member
Of the League does not seem to WORRY
anybody In Europe very much. The
colored Republic has been giving head
aches to all the important governments
in Europe and to the United States.
and it might be just as well "if a little
law and order is brought into the
country by stern Nazi discipline
The entire territory which the Ger
mans demand at the present moment
is rich in raw materials which the
Reich needs badly. The geographical
position of the colonies is such that
communications with the Reich could
be intercepted easily by the British
fleet in case Germany showed any
aggressive intentions in Western
Europe.
The main sacrifice in this colonial
settlement is demanded from Great
Britain since Nigeria is the largest
of all these territories included In
the German scheme for the resurrec-
ton of her colonial empire The
British government has been informed
about the Reichs claims and has
expressed for the time being no def
mite opinion. But there are strong
indications" it is said in Berlin, that
the London government is no longer
as adamant On the subject as In the
past. 1t Is willing to study the ques-
tion "sympathetically" provided Ger
many Is willing to make concessions
In other flelds-the disarmament field,
for instance.
French Main Directors.
The greatest opposition DR.. Schacht
has encountered so far comes from
French quarters. Blum has listened
with interest to DR.. Schacht's expose
and has replied, 1t Is reported, that
there would be insurmountable diff
culties when the matter will be
brought before the French Parliament.
He must be in position. should his
government show any interest in the
suggestion to give Germany the three
French colonies. to offer a quid pro
quo which should make it worth while
for France to abandon parts of its
territories. Germany must prove con-
clusively, he said, that she does not
intend to use the raw materials to
dominate Europe and she must agree
to substantial limitation of arma-
n1ents.
The French premier indicated that
Che matter could not possibly receive
any consideration, as far as the
French government Is concerned, un-
til after the conference of the sigma
tories Of the Locarno pact. Should
that conference prove successful and
should the Germans and their allies.
the Italians, show a really concili-
atory spirit and agree to q drastic
reduction of ornaments it might be
possible for the French government
to consider seriously the German CO.
lonial plan. But, Blum added, 1t is
difncult at the moment for any
Frenchman to conceive that Germany
has pacific intentions when, during
the negotiations for q colonial en-
pire, she has practically doubled her
standing armies.
Berlin Expected Attitude.
The opposition Of the French gov
srnment did not surprise Berlin. It
was fully expected. But Hitler
through Expert Schacht merely