Evening Post. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1922. UNSETTLED EUROPE

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 3, 5 January 1922, Page 6

Evening Post. THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 1922. UNSETTLED EUROPE

Lord Northcliffe and his papers have taken a new hand in the inter-; national tangle, by emphasising more strongly the need of a settlement with France, and by discovering at the same time fresh evidence .'of the underground anti-Britainism of Germany. The latter part of the contract has been taken up by Lord Northcliffe in person, while Mr. Wickham Steed is utilising his American visit for personal representations in a Francophile direction ; and at the same time the London office of The Times is sounding the note of "a new Entente " with France. The main point of Lord Northcliffe'b New Year message, given forth at Colombo, is that Germany is carrying on an anti-British, press and picture propaganda in the East, whereupon The Times remarks-that 'Lord Northcliffe'b " very weighty statements " should be "a warning even to those who place their trust in Germany's repentance." But who places his trust in Germany's repentance? So far as ihe German Government and the German official class are concerned, Germany's repentance, if it- exists, is probably not worth a straw; and the abstention of German officialdom from any subterranean move likely to injure British interests in the East is no more to be relied on than the adhesion of the Soviet Government to its undertaking to' abstain from similar manoeuvres. That sort of repentance is not to be expected in unpledged Berlin any more'than in pledged.Moscow. Any building upon Germany as an international factor must be based upon the necessities of Germany and "not upon an alleged German repentance. . What does Germany need ? She: needs economic opportunity to rebuild. Is the economic rebuilding; of Germany necessary to the pros-; perity of Europe and Britain? The' British Government answers "Yes"; and tries to shape its conduct accordingly. The French Government does not answer "No," but. acts in a manner that raises the suspicion that it means "No." And this constitutes one of the main rocks in the course of the Anglo-French Entente. The diplomatic problem is not to reconcile a Britain that/believes, and a France that disbelieves, in German repentance. The problem is >to unite Britain arid France in a.policy aiming at the economic restoration of Germany, with safeguards, satisfactory to France, against a new military aggression on the part of the restored Germany. To this problem Lord Northcliffe's .discovery, which is probably no discovery at allj is not a pertinent contribution; but Mr. Wickham Steed aims nearer the mark when he tells the American editors, in banquet assembled, that "there are signs that officials in England are considering a plan for giving security to France by arranging that the principal European Allies shall jointly and severally guarantee the neutrality of Rhineland." He also trusts that " means will be found to remove from France the burden of the war debt to England." Presumably, then, theße are among the suggested underlying principles of " the new Entente " for which The Times, in its editorial columns, pleads. Instead of the Rhine frontier demanded by Marshal Foch, Mr. Steed suggests the principle of internationalisation, or at any rate of international guarantee. But, when France remembers what happened in 1914 to the Belgian international guarantee, will she be satisfied with a mere guarantee on the Rhine? And, if she wants more, what form will the additional interference with the Rhineland take ? Mr. Wickham) Steed's formula is interesting, but there are many gaps to fill in. And how will he remove the French deK to Britain without removing the British debt to the United States? The economic issue cannot, be shelved, for, according to Le Journal, the default in the German payments, predicted by Mr. Keynes to happen in 1922, is close at hand. Le Journal says "it is certain " that "Germany cannot pay the January instalment even if. the Entente sends an ultimatum." Hence operhaps the reason for the re-summoning of the Supreme Council, which is again engaged on the well-worn problem even though the New Year is only a few days old.