CLEMENCEAU AND FOCH

Evening Star, Issue 17084, 1 July 1919, Page 8

CLEMENCEAU AND FOCH

A DRAMATIC PASSAGE, FRENCH FRONTIER QUESTION. The appearance of Marshal Focli before the Ministerial Council on Friday appears to have been of a most dramatic character (writqj a Paris correspondent under date April 27). It will be remembered by all who have followed the proceedings of the Peace Confer nee how consistently the advice that he has given has been ignored, but to do'the politicians justice, it has to be admitted that his appearance before the Conference was due to the initiative of the French Senate, who insisted- that arrangements should bo made for his views to be expounded. When Marshal Foch appeared before the council, I understand that ha complained that he, as generalissimo and as a member of the Conference, had been unable to hear from the Four what had been decided by them as to the frontier of France, a question that was of vital interest to him. M. Olemenceau, it would appear, took up the defence of the Four and of the French Government, arguing that the peace conditions were the business of the Government, and that once the generalissimo had expressed his opinion his duties as generalissimo were at an end. Despite M. Clemeneeau's statement. Marshal Foch then read to the Ministerial Council two reports that had been prepared by him and submitted to the Council of Ten last February or March. These reports were to the effect that it was essential for Prance to secure the Rhine as her frontier. The most critical moment of the interview was reached when Marshal Foch, turning to the peace negotiators, warned them that as they had failed to appreciate the real interests of Franco they were liable to have to answer for their actions before the High Court of Justice. When M. Clemcnceau wished to object to the reading of the Foch reports on the ground that they were already known to Mr Wilson and Sir Lloyd George, Marshal Foch replied : “No doubt, but the Council of French Ministers have the, right to know them, too, because the position of France is not the same as that of America, which is separated from Germany by the ocean, nor as that of England, which possesses the Channel moat and the North Sea as a barrier, while between France and Germany there is nothing but the Rhine.” M. Poincare, who presided over the meeting, said nothing whatever. M. Clemenceau was the only either speaker, and he- vigorously defended the decision-; of the Four. His speech lasted for an hour, and he carried the Council of Ministers with him.