The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. TUESDAY. MARCH 30, 1920. ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 77, 30 March 1920, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

TUESDAY. MARCH 30, 1920. ENGLAND AND FRANCE.

Tor the ro«ae l/ic.l lacks a«si»f(inc«. For lhe 11.j0.15r that needs resistance. For the Inline in the distance. And the vood that we can da.

: Rumour has been rife ever since the |i sitting of the Peace Conference that relations between England and France have I been more strained in some quarters than , !tho responsible Governments on either _ .side have been willing to admit, nnd now |; the president of t lie French Foreign ■: Affairs Committee lias indulged in a . somewhat violent anti-British speech, in | which he openly asserts that Great Bri- I 'tn in has made herself secure to the ' neglect of French interests. M. Bartliou's partial retraction,* reported in our j news to-day, softens what might have'; been an ugly incident, but the original i speech remains as an indication of antiBritish feeling in France. It certainly must appear to many French people that , we have obtained a large access of ter- i ritory as a result of the war, although : they do not always pause to reflect that • this accession of territory carries with it . obligations that rob it oi" much of it 3 i value. Indeed, it is questionable whether j the cost of policing and guarding some of | ; our new possessions may not exceed any commercial value they may possess for . us. France, on the other hand, has gnincd j only a small amount of territory. It • docs not look upon Alsace-Lorraine asj 1 being really any territorial gain. Rather I. does it regard the acquisition of these , two provinces as being a restoration of i. property previously stolen. Such con- jl cessions as the Conference made to France .' in regard to Syria have been largely I j robbed of their value by the counter- ( I claim pat forward by the Arabs for the •' establishment of an Arab Kingdom. Thq j' | French are somewhat inclined to blame I' Britain for the difficulty that has arisen , in this respect. Great Britain, believing ;j that the previous treaty made with \ l France in regard to Syria had become ' null and void when the treaty made with Russia, of which this formed a part, was abrogated, on the grounds that the failure of Russia at Brest-Litovsk had absolved all signatories from their obligations, , concluded a treaty with the King of the Hedjaz for the establishment of an Arab Kingdom which should include part of the territory previously promised to France. France was to receive large cash in- , demnities from Germany, as well as : large quantities of goods tc make good much of the depredation which the Ger- • mans had committed. The French Ministry has been financing its budgets very . largely on the strength of the indemnities which France expected to receive. I There has been very little attempt to write off part of these indemnities as doubtful assets, and to finance the country on a sound basis. It has been estimated that while taxes in Britain in- • creased from 95 francs per head to 26.5 francs, in France the increase was only from 90 to 103 francs. The French people now find that Germany is not certain to pay anything like the amount of cither cash or goods which the,' treaty adjudged she ought to nay. To force Germany to pay the whole amount' promised might mean exerting considerable pressure, which would entail heavy I expense, and the upkeep in all probabil- j ity of a large armed force. M. Barthou seems to think that Great Britain has I obtained the best available assets in the j territory she has already acquired, and 1 in tbe destruction of her great naval j rival, and that France is left somewhat I in the position of a man who holds a second mortgage on a property that is a doubtful security. But while it must | be noted that French Governments I are partly to blame for the present sit-1 nation, one must try to look at the French case from* the French and con

tincntal, as opposed to the British and insular point of view. France lias to live alongside Germany, and to bear the first brunt of Avar should Germany seek revenge. Her position has been made considerably worse by the failure of America to ratify not only the Peace Treaty, but the undertaking that Mr. Wilson gave to the French Government that America would help Franco if she was again attacked by Germany. To get American help France made concessions. The concessions remain, but the help is doubtful. When all the circumstances are considered, M. Barthou's attack becomes intelligible. There can he no question of the permanence of Anglo-French unity, but it is not going to be as easy as it looks to keep the friendship between the two countries free from friction. Already there is disagreement between the Governments on two great questions—Russian policy and the economic treatment of Germany, and it looks as if on both of these Britain will have the support of America and Italy.