DANGER IN THE RUHR

Dominion, Volume 16, Issue 149, 12 March 1923, Page 7

DANGER IN THE RUHR

FROM FRENCH INDEPENDENT ACTION FLOUNDERING DEEPER INTO QUICKSAND MR. LLOYD GEORGE’S SURVEY OF THE SITUATION * ' Mr. Lloyd George, in his article dealing with the danger in the Ruhr of French independent action, says that France is floundering further into a quicksand because no prominent figure in French politics is prepared to take the odium of sounding the retreat. He adds that no one knows the terms on which the French army is prepared to evacuate the Ruhr. FTho following and all Lloyd George articles copyright by United Press of America in all countries, copyright in Australasia by Australian Press, copyright in Britain by "Daily Chronicle." Reproduction in full or in part prohibited.!

BX TILEGH.APH —PBEiS ASSOCIATION. —COPYRIGHT.

i ' London, March 9. Mr. Lloyd George writes:— When you have walked some distance into quicksand and are sinking deeper and deeper with every step, it is always difficult to decide whether you are more likely to reach firm ground by pressing forward or by going backward. You must do one or the other; you cannot stand just fast, for that is inevitable destruction. The French Government is clearly of opinion that safety lies in marching further into the quagmire. So more German cities are occupied, more burgomasters and officials expelled, more men and boys shot in the streets, more black troops imported, and more regulations and decrees issued. There is more depression in the French, Belgian, and Italian Exchanges,'and more confusion in Central Europe’s business. In a sentence, there is more quaking and less solid coal. But for ' her fatuous invasion France would, in the past six or seven weeks, have received from the Ruhr- nearly three million tons of coal and coke, instead of the fifty thousand actually received. A Well-equipped Weather Prophet. No wonder M. Loucheur stated flatly in the French Chamber that he did not approve of the Ruhr enterprise. He has one distinct advantage over the Ruhr plungers; he knows something about business.* He is also an admirable judge of. to-morrow’s weather —a rare endowment among politicians. Any simpleton can tell vou the way the wind is blowing to-day, but it requires a man of special insight to forecast the direction of tomorrow. M. Loucheur is one of these well-equipped weather prophets, so he satisfies the opinion of to-day by supporting M. Poincare and safeguards his position against to-morrow’s change by stating that he does not approve of the policy he supports. Will the French Government try to extricate themselves from the difficulties, in which they have precipitated their country and Europe? I fear not. Heedlessness rushes man into danger; it needs courage to get out. When getting out involves the admission of blame, there are few who.possess that exalted type of courage. ( Difficulty of Withdrawing. There are further reasons why the present Government of France will flounder further into the quicksand. The trouble to-day in Franco is that every alternative leader disapproves of this enterprise, and believes it must ultimately fail. On the other handno prominent figure in French politics is prepared to take the odium of sounding the retreat, as it would always be said that success was in sight, and but for the new Minister’s .- cowardice and ■ perfidy France would have emerged triumphantly out of ho* - financial worries. No French statesman dare face that deadly accusation. So the present French Government is tied to tho saddle of its charger and forced to go on. Another explanation of the difficulty of withdrawing lie*, in the increasing fury of the original fomenters of this rashness.. Last week I gave a summary of their ambitious plans of syndicating European re-‘ f< , sources. This week they propound a new treaty which is to supersede tho Versailles Treaty. Boundaries are to be revised, and rich provinces and towns practically annexed. Ruhr coal ■ is to be harnessed to Lorraine ore. and Germany reduced to complete economic subjection. Britain and America not Consulted. There has been nothing comparable with these ideas since the Norman Conquest. Needless to say Britain and America are not to be invited to this new Peace Conference. They will be graciously informed of the conditions of the new peace, when it is finally established by French arms. The British Empire, which raised millions of men to liberate French soil from German invaders and lost hundreds of thousands of its best young lives in the effort, is not even to bo con suited as to the settlement, which its losses alone made possible. America, who came to tho rescue with millions of its bravest, is barely worth a sentence in these ravings of brains intoxicated with an unwholesome mixture of hatred, greed, and military arrogance. The French Government are not committed by any overt declarations to these schemes, but it is ominous, that they issue from pens whose insistent prodding has driven this Government on to its present action. Un to the" present no repudiation has come from the head of the Government, and pledges for reparation and security will cover a multitude of aggressions French Premier’s Terms not Known. I have perused the Blue Book on the Paris Conference, anxious to find out exactly what M. Poincaro'did propose to demand of Germany as a condition of submission to the French will. I have read his speeches in vain It is true that ho was never asked the question. That sounds incomprehensible. Everyone engaged was in such a hurry to" break up. the. Conference and put an end to disagreeable disagreements that it seems it never occurred to them to ask this essential question. That sounds inconiprehensconcerncd was not represented. No one knows tho terms on which the French Annv is prepared to evacuate the Ruhr. 'Mr. Bonar Law could not <m>la.in to the House of Commons, for go one ever told him, and he never Bleed it. ,1 am sure that by this time , Poincare has quite forgotten whv ever went to the Ruhr. He will remain there until somethin" happone pa prayida us with an answer.

OCCUPATION JUSTIFIED BY FRANCE REPLY TO GERMAN NOTE WILL NOT ACCEPT MEDIATION (Rec. March 11, 5.5 p.m.) ■ Paris, March 10. France, replying to the German Note of February 15, justifies the occupation of the Ruhr, first, because the section of the Versailles Treaty quoted by Germany permits the Allies on voluntary Gorman default to take any measures they think necessary; second, the London ultimatum of April, 1921, that the Allies occupy the Ruhr- valley and proceed with other military action if Germany defaults. Quoting the Spa agreement regarding coal deliveries, France points out that Germany totally failed in her obligations and payments in cash and kind, not paying up tc December, 1922, nearly a hundred millions sterling. The German Government’s order to tile mines to refuse to deliver coal to the Allies made it impossible for the latter to act in a friendly .manner and compelled them to requisition coal. They only proceeded against Ruhr officials whose conduct endangered the safety of the Allied forces. The Note concludes that France had resolved to exact from Germany in respect of the obligations Germany had contracted. M. Poincare and the Foreign Affairs Committee reiterated that they would not accept mediation, but were ready to listen when Germany was ready to speak.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. POINCARE-THEUNIS CONFERENCE TO DISCUSS PLAN OF ACTION Paris, March 9. M. Poincare’s conference with M. Theunis at Brussels'is fixed for Monday. The King will give a dinner to M. Poincare in the evening. The Premiers will discuss_the French plan for the complete control of rhe Ruhr and a united plan of action, if and when Germany seeks a' resumption of reparations negotiation s. —Aus .-N. Z. Cable Assn. HUMILIATING POSITION BRITISH PASSES FLOUTED BY THE FRENCH (Rec. March 12, 0.35 a.m.) London, March 10. Mr. Beach Thomas, the Cologne correspondent of the “Daily Express,” says tho position in the eastern semicircle of the British zone is humiliating. British passes covering goods decreed by the Rhineland Commission to have free passage are flouted by the French, whose sentries are posted five yards from the British boundary. This is part of a scheme to prevent the export from and import to the British zone of coal and raw materials for factories stopped, though specifically stated to bo entitled to free passage under the international arrangement. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. EXPELLED OFFICIALS INDEMNIFIED BY GERMAN GOVERNMENT (Rec. March 12, 0.35 a.m.) Berlin, March 10. Newspapers report that officials expelled from the Ruhr have been indemnified by the Government and given posts in non-occupiod German}' more important than they held in Ruhr.— Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. DISCOURAGING FAMILIARITY London, March 9. Advices from Dusseldorf state that, the German Nationalist Organisation at Witten has offered a reward of 200.000 marks for every bunch of hnir cut from the heads of women deemed to have been too familiar with French soldiers in the Ruhr.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. BROADCASTING OF PATRIOTIC SONG Berlin, March 9. When fife broadcastings apparatus hero began to send out a statement regarding the Ruhr, and a patriotic song, tho Eiffel Tower, using the same wave length, promptly jammed the messages. The concert broadcasted was uninterrupted till “Deutschland Über Alles” was sung, when the Eiffel again drowned the messages.—Aus.N. Cable Aisn.