France and Germany

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 21992, 16 January 1937, Page 12

France and Germany

For several days the cable news has contained references to the possibility of a new trade and monetary agreement between France and Germany. The first report was that Dr. Schacht would go to Paris" to conduct, the negotiations himself. An official German news agency has denied this but has added the hopeful information that negotiations are already in progress. •There are also less hopeful reports, which unfortunately there is some reason to believe, that both governments are disposed to mix .politics with, economics. The French Government, .so it is said, wants a disarmament agreement as the price of any reduction of quotas and tariffs on German exports, while the German Government is supposed to have introduced the question of colonies. The history of Franco-Ger-man relations since the Great War shows clearly" enough that attempts to reach agreement on these lines often do more harm than good. Six months ago, for instance. Dr. Schacht -went to Paris to discuss with the French Government the future of trade between the two countries in view of the possible devaluation of the franc. It was realised by the German Government that devaluation was essential to the continued existence of the Blum Cabinet and assumed, wrongly as it happened, that a trade agreement with Germany was an essential condition of devaluation. Accordingly, Dr. Schacht demanded, as the price of such an agreement, political concessions which the French Government felt unable to make. The boot is now on the other leg. Germany is desperately in need of trade outlets and the French Government may feel tempted to impose political conditions. If it does, it will defeat its own .ends. The suggestion that Germany should restrict her armaments in return for outlets for her trade has already been answered by General Goering: " Germany will not'barter "away her security." In any case, the main cause of the German Government's reckless chauvinism, so alarming to France and to the rest of Europe, is the economic plight of the German people. If an agreement can be reached which makes food cheaper and more plentiful in Germany, the tension in Europe will immediately be eased. The only stipulation which France is entitled to attach to her willingness to enter a trade agreement is that the additional export credits made, available

in Germany shall not be used mainly.for the purchase of raw materials for the armament industries. In other words, the National Socialists must be prepared to modify their economic programme. As long as they cling to the principle that " the German people must •' be nourished by the products of the German " soil," no trade agreement can relieve the present food shortage.