Evening star., 1939-01-06
Bonnet Is Most Criticized
Man in Paris Today
Foreign Minister Held Responsible
For Double CROSSING of Czechs

friend, Mr.. Chamberlain, were not
so clumsy.
The incident of the second week
in December, In which the British
Premier said bluntly In the Com
mons that Britain's military obi
cations to aid France end on the
Rhine, is troubling the French. True
enough, Mr.. Chamberlain amended
this statement two days later, when,
at the dinner Of the foreign press in
London, he said that there are obli-
cations which 60 beyond the letter
Of written treaty. All the same, the
French wish he had taken the op-
portunity of saying this in the
House Of Commons, and thus give
his statement a more binding char
acter.
The French diplomats believe that
If Italy were to attack with an
armed force Tunis or any other
French Mediterranean territory,
Britain would come to Frances res
cue. But before this happens, there
may be some diplomatic moves
which might permit the British
government, for the sake Of Euro
pean appeasement" to urge France
to be more liberal in her policies
towards II Duce. And for this reason
there Is certain uneasiness in the
Quai dOrsay in connection with
Mr.. Chamberlain visit to Rome on
January Is.
ITO the Last Colony?"
During the World War it was
said facetiously Of Great Britain
that she will fight the Germans as
long as there is single French
soldier alive. Now 1t is said that
she will try and appease Europe as
long as the French, the Belgians
and the Portuguese have some colo
mics to surrender.
This is not quite so. The British,
as nation, would like to put an
end to the arrogance and the Gu
pidity of the totaitarian states,
which they feel exceed the bounds
of decency. But Mr.. Chamberlain
he has practically no followers for
his policy in the cabinets welded
to the appeasement idea and is
willing to 60 far in that direction
as long as no direct claims on
Britain's territory are made.
Nobody here considers that Mus
solini actually expects to get Tunis
in the course of the next few
months. But he hopes to gain a
good deal from Mr.. Chamberlain
when he visits him in Rome. He is
expected to pound the table like
Hitler at Berchtesgaden; to paint
horrible picture of what a war be-
tween France and Italy would be like,
and induce the British Prime Minis
ter to use his tremendous influence
with the French to make them yield
something. Djibouti, for instance
is of little Importance to the French,
while to the Italians it is the gate
way, the only decent outlet to the
Red Sea. Ethiopia having become
an Italian colony, there is no reason
why France should still keep that
worthless port. Surely Mr. Chamber
lain will see that the Italians are
not unreasonable or illogical in that
demand. The same applies to Ger
tain special rights and privileges
for the Italians who live in Tunis.
Furthermore, the French, who are
not emigrants. and like to stay in
their cozy France, ought to liberalize
their immigration policy in Tunis
and permit all the Italians who
want to 60 there to enter that coun-
try with the same ease as they move
from one part of Italy to another
Certainly Mr.. Chamberlain cannot
possibly imagine that such modest
demands are worth war.
These are the questions which the
French in general and M. Bonnet
in particular are fearful will form
the main topics Of conversation in
Rome And they fear, and rightly
so, that the British Premier might
weaken and promise to use his in
huence lust his influence" with
the Paris government to induce it to
appease II Duce for the sake of
world peace
M. Bonnet knows the tight logic
and the bulldog tenacity of the
British foreign office He knows
from certain hints thrown unom-
cially and casually here and there
that the pressure from London will
be terrific and that a face-saving
device in the shape of some treaty
guaranteeing the integrity OF
Frances territory in Europe and
Africa will be the price offered fol-
another Munich. And M. Bonnet
knows that neither his colleagues
nor the country will allow him to
accept such a bargain. 1t may be
that this is one of the reasons why
Nine. Bonnet signs everytime the
shady garden of the modest en-
bassy on Kalorama road is men,
toned to her