The Evening Star TUESDAY!, APRIL 6, 1920.

Evening Star, Issue 17319, 6 April 1920, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY!, APRIL 6, 1920.

The insistent demand of France through „ her leading statesmen Reparation for a complete cxeeuby tion by Germany of the > Cermany. terms of the Peace \ Treats- deserves a full measure of British srmpathy and support. Of all the Allies France alon-j keens a stiff upper lip on all treaty questions. It k very necessary that at least one stem Power should hold the gate against ' German trickery and plausible penetration. The success of Germany so far in evading many 'vital terms of the Armistice of 1918, the Versailles Treaty of 19LS, and the Paris Protocol of 1920, dealing with extensive violations of armistice and treaty provisions, has been remarkable. The • post-war policy of several of the “principal allied and associated Powers” has encouraged Germany to trifle with the treaty with,amazing boldness. America, . though the principal Power at the Paris Conference last year, has rejected the Versailles Treaty and all the ideals that President Wilson got packed into t!?e ■'bulky document; and Great- Britain threatens to drift on the ‘‘ magnanimous tack.” France alone is firm in demanding an exact execution of the treaty terms * by Germany. The question of the fulfilment of the reparation terms by Germany has been taken out of the hands of allied states- „ • men and referred to a special Reparation ComnUfsion. The British representative , is Sir John Bradbury, whose views-have ■,v never been made public. His attitude k ’ unknown; but doubtless he will do his - duty faithfully and well. The President of the _Commission, fortunately, .is M. Jonnart,' who "represents France. He has described as “ a man of large- and apf” r " * •' . ' t f . y K / :} •* * ' t:-“,

teipperate views”; but the fact that he I hails from the centre of the devastated a-ea in Northern France ought to bo a guarantee that he will at least demand full material compensation for irreparable injury. France, will not expect M. Jonnart to shirk through tenderness of heart for poor Germany. But the allied tendency to become pliable over the question of reparation by Germany does not promise material success. Even i\Jr Hughes has censed talking about “collecting” from' the Hun. The Mow Zealand plenipotentiary has probably written off the Dominion’s modest share as a bad debt. Mr Lloyd George discreetly avoids any reference now to making Germany pay for her colossal crime. Reparation, like tlio trial of William Hohenzollorn, is not now an election slogan. The “hanging of the Kaiser” merely raised a favorable political wind. Germany s evasion of treaty provisions Ins really been serious. Tho list is a formidable one, and scarcely adds to the credit of tho allied and associated Powers. 'lho evasions began with wholesale violations 4 of the, armistice terms, including the sinking of Gorman battleships at Pcapa l ( low, the maintenance of armed forces in the Baltic provinces, the ‘ burning of hrcnch Hags at Berlin in defiance of an obligation to restore them to Franco, ihen came a long series of failures to discharge honorably the terms of the Versailles Treaty, these- violations including tho surrender of German war criminals, failure to restore stolen art treasures and machinery, deliberate double-dealing in the matter of tho disposal of ships and aerial craft and equipment, the delimitation of the Saar Valley territory, the official German “looting" of all the valuables in the city and port of Danzig (representing hundreds of millions of marks), tho terrorising of people fn Upper Silesia, Schleswig. Teschen, and Klagenfurt in order to influence in favor of Germanv the plebiscites taken under the terms of the treaty, and a reduction in the quantity of coal and material to be delivered to France, 'these are not by any means the whole of Germany's violations of the various treaties, but are enough surelv to convince the Allies, that the German has not changed for the better and has not learned the lesson of defeat. It is therefore well that France remains the “evorwatch'.ng eye” (to use President Wilson’s phrase about the League of Marions) of the free nations. Unless France refuses to sell the pass the Versailles Treaty of Peace will not represent true victory.