TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 12, 1924. BRITAIN AND FRANCE.

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 36, 12 February 1924, Page 4

TUESDAY. FEBRUARY 12, 1924. BRITAIN AND FRANCE.

The new Government in Britain claims that relations with France have improved, and the signs in our news appear to support this. France seems to be in a more reasonable frame of mind. M. Poincare no longer unveils war memorials on Sundays with uncompromising speeches. The main explanation of this change is, we believe, the British elections. It is not that the aims of Mr. Ramsay Mac Donald differ greatly from those of Mr. Baldwin, but that the election results came as a profound surprise to France. The Poincare Government was mistaken about British opinion. It mistook the voice of the '' Rothermcre Press, with its cry of "Hats off to France!" for the voice of England.! There were Englishmen who made a: similar blunder. A notorious "die-hard" Conservative journalist remarked last year when Mr. Baldwin appeared to have] given way to France, that the country j gave a sigh of relief, when the contrary ; was the truth. Britain's attitude towards French policy was a very live issue at the elections. Candidates discussed it, and voters were deeply interested. And though there was really not much difference between the desires of the three parties in this respect, the successes of Labour and Liberalism at the expense of Conservatism were in a measure the expression of a demand for a stronger policy towards France. The complaint against the Baldwin Government was that it drifted, that it allowed Britain to become a factor of small account in Eurbpean affairs. Thinking Frenchmen must realise now that the policy so raucously propounded by the Rothermcre Press is the policy of a minority of Englishmen. There are signs that M. Poincare understands this, and that he is changing his tune. This change should make it easier to come to an agreement about European ' reconstruction, but the difficulties that remain are very formidable. English interests are not quite the ■ same as French interests, and while the Labour party claims to have more of an international outlook than its rivals, it cannot afford not to safeguard the national things that it holds in trust. Then Mr. Mac Donald has the pacifist and idealistic mind, whereas the French, "as the "Times" has pointed out, are realists in their policy. The "Times" may well ask how these policies are going to be reconciled. Mere talk will not suffice. We arc getting unofficial reports of British proposals to that end. One says- that Britain is going to press immediately for the admission of Germany to the League of Nations; another that Britain has agreed to accept the French view .in favour of strict military control of Germany, provided this iB carried out by the League, of which Germany will be a member. These are in accord with Labour ideals and pronouncements. The difficulty will be France's suspicion of Germany. The Covenant say s any country may be admitted to the League if two-thirds of the Assembly agree, and proA'ided that it gives "effective ' guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations, and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval, and air forces and anna- ' ments." The question ivill be what [ "effective guarantees" Germany should be asked to give, and how far she can be trusted. It all comes back to the question of security, about which Fiance is more concerned than about reparations. France fears a war of revenge waged by a nation stronger than herself. She was promised assistance as a condition of acceptance of important terms in the Peace Treaty, and that promise has been dishonoured. Even Mr. Mac Donald must realise that some form of security must be found for France. He will almost certainly try to find it } through the League, but will that satisfy France? Fortunately Mr. Mac Donald starts with the advantage that France now has a better understanding of the ' mind of Britain, and consequently s ees _ more clearly the perils of material and moral isolation. ■ _;____.<•