GENOA

Evening Star, Issue 17956, 1 May 1922, Page 3

GENOA

POINCARE'S DESIRES. MR GARVIN EXPLAINS. FRANCE TO DOMINATE EUROPE. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, April 23. Mr J. L. Garvin’s despatches from Genoa continue to express whole-hen to 1 irritation at the French attitude. His ; opinions are important ns likely to be re--1 fleeting the feelings of Mr Lloyd George, i Mr Garvin being admittedly one .of the 1 Prime Minister's soundest supporters. Mr Garvin, after paving a tribute to Mr Lloyd George’.', work at Genoa, declares that Paris is a greater d-angor than Moscow, socking to kill the spirit of the Cannes resolutions, and proceeds : “ Pans dees not. work genuinely for Hie restoration of Europe, but, d'cado it. M. Poincare clings to the formula of Allied domination, wlvch means French domination. He will neither come to the conference nor keep out. For instance, a Note in answer to the Russian proposals which was intended to end tire maddening, procrastination and evasivenesa of the Bolsheviks was thoroughly approved by Italy and others, hut was again subjected to the, veto of Paris, which instructed M. Barthou to submit a counter-draft. Once more M. Poincare 1 has treated the French delegation like puppets to he jerked by wives. He has harassed the conference like a man in ambush. He does not want Genoa to succeed. He always gives m-est trouble when ‘it is most likely to succeed. Ho is undoubtedly divide,l between a strong desiie to break .up the conference and an anxious dread of the consequences. He is tho Kaiser of peace, and may he fata! to Europe.” Mr Garvin says: “It js intolerable that M. Poincare should meddle wilh the Genoa Conference without belonging to it.” If he had b-eni living in the atmoapheie of Genoa for twenty-four hours, Mr Garvin declares, M. Poincare would have been bicapahle of the speech cabled on -April M. “Net a s’ngle country, .whither ally or neutral, approved of the ultimatum in that sue. eh. It ignored the overwhelming weight, of sane opinion throughout the world.” The inheieut issue of this conference is that either there shall be the beginning of a new Europe nr he an end of Hie Entente between i Britain and France. It is high time to show- that this :s the British Empire's irrevocable policy. Either M. Poincan.’s ultimatum must I e stultified, which will mean his political exil, the Entente must end, or reparation? must be disensmd from top to bottom,”—A. and N.Z. Gable. BARTHOU IN REVOLT. GENOA, April 23. M. Barthou lias returned to Paris to confer with M. Poincare. This is reunited to be due to difference with M. Poincare, who insists that M. Barthou j must sticlc. to His instructions. M. Bar--1 thou demanded io h; recalled to enable i him to explain his petition to tho Oh amber of Deputies. It i.s by no means certain that lie will l;c recalled, ns'M. Poincare would fear to precipitate a Cabinet crisis. M. Barthou. denies that he is leaving the conference. Ho expects to be hack at Genoa on Wednesday. Meanwhile his colleagues will carry on. -Mr Lloyd Get rge save he regrets even a temporary absence of the head of the Fieuch delegation.—A. and N.Z. Cable. BRITISH LABOR LEADER’S DECLARATION. ROME, April 28. Tho Right Hon. J. IT. Thomas (Labor), interviewed, said the British public supported Mr Lloyd George's attitude at Genoa. It had grown tired of the French Government’s altitude, which was seemingly aiming - at blocking up the conference, from which the world awaited most important remits.—A. and N.Z, Cable. THE NOTE TO RUSSIA. LONDON, April 28. Air Wickham Stead, the special reptoeentativo of ‘The Times’ at Genoa, in a message from Genoa, says that it is no longer accurate, to call the Allied document about to be presented to the Bo) sheviks an ultimatum. It appears now to be almost a draft convention, consisting of a preamble and outlining the assistance the European States are prepared to give •the Bolsheviks, such as espoit credits and restoration of railway and maritime communications. Tho Bolsheviks are asked lo recognise the public debt, damages .suffered by foreigners, and the return of private property to former owners, also a reduction, not a cancellation, of war debts. 'The crucial question is, Will the Bolsheviks accept? Perhaps they are bluffing. At present the chances arc against their accepting.—A. and N.Z. Cable. ALLIED POSITION STATED. READY TO HELP. BUT GUARANTEES ESSENTIAL. LONDON, April 28. 'The, Allies’ Note is not yet completed, but a preamble was issued this evening. It stated that tho Allies have given profound consideration to the condition of Russia, and that they sincerely desire the establishment of friendly relations amongst the European nations, amongst whom Russia might take her place. They recognise Unit Russia's resources have been drained during the past eight years, and that misery, famine, and privation would continue, constituting a plague spot of increasing menace lo the European system. The Powers arc anxious to avert such a fats falling upon Russia, but her reconstruction is impossible without the assistance of Western capital. When the nationals of other countries are guaranteed safety in doing business they will has! on to her assistance. Her economic resources are paralysed, not destroyed. Industrial Europe can furnish her requirements as soon ns guarantees are forthcoming and their debts are recognised. Several countries are prepared to form a consortium providing an initial capital of £20,003,000; while some countries are pro- | pared to finance (heir nationals in Russia. Tho British Government would make nso of the. Trade Facilities Act and the .Export Credit Act. France is unable to provide financial help, hut she is prepared to join in the consortium; also to supply seed and agricultural and other machinery, with trained workers. Italy will take up 1 20 per rent, of the, consortium capital and assist in agricultural organisation. Japan will grant a credit of 8,000,000 yen to a Russian trading company, Belgium 250.C00.0C0 francs to assist- export trade, also 20 per cent, of the consortium capital, and help private mining and other enterprises. Only two articles nf the Note have been completed, and it is not likely to be handed to tho Russians before the early ptirt of tho week. The first article deals with propaganda. It has been decided that the Soviet must refrain, from propaganda, both socially and territorially, and must clearly understand that there must be no agitation against the de facto frontiers established under existing treaties. The second article deals with the method of writing down debts. It was suggested that tho writing down should bo done by either an international court of justice under tho League of Nations or by tho American Supreme Court. The question was referred to tho Legal Experts’ Committee.—A, and N.Z. Cable. EUSSO-GERMAN TREATY. GENOA, April 29. Dr Wirth last evening eulogised the Eusso-Gonnan Treaty. H,c said it was a model agreement for'tho proletariat of the whole world. M. Tchitchcrin anplauded it as the first treaty in history drawn up in an evangelical spirit.—‘The Times,’ I

The Australian Press correspondent at Genoa slates Unit M. Eratiano was responsible for the sueuring of reference to frontiers in article 1. Mr Lloyd George, while iu full accord with Rumania’s claim to Bessarabia, thought that such disturbing questions as frontiers should be excluded from the text of the Note and dealt with in the'pact against aggression. Neutral countries abstained' from voting on the point, hut the Little Entente was extremely nervous of the Russo-German Agreement. There has been much discussion over the article in the Note dealing with private properties, and efforts are being made to devise a formula which, while not hurting the sensitiveness of the Bolsheviks, will give the Allies the guarantees they rcauirc.

The same correspondent says thatq the discussion on the French and British drafts of Notes to the Soviet continues. It is understood that there is very little difference between, the two documents. Both make it clear that the Russians must accept the Cannes resolutions as a whole, not in part.—A. and N.Z. Cable. . GENOA, April 29. .M. Tchitcherin has written to Signor Facta requesting the reason for the delay in summoning the first commission, declaring that if it is not convenient and no reply is received to the Russian letter of April 20 to .Mr Lloyd George accepting the conditions ho will be compelled to withdraw the offer. ECONOMIC COMMISSION. - LONDON, April 28. ; The Australian Press Association’s Genoa correspondent slates that the Economic Commission intends holding a plenary session to consider its report to the conference. The recommendations arc naturally drafted in the interests of European reconstruction. Some cut directly across Australian interests, while the majority would considerably benefit the Australian export trade. Sir Joseph Cook did valuable work by securing a- modification of the preamble in the direction of obtaining an option for overseas countries to accept only the portions suitable to their conditions. The Italians prepared a resolution on the question of the distribution of raw materials.—A. and N.Z. Cable. SIGNOR FACTA HOPEFUL, ROME. April 28. Reports from Milan stale that Signor Facia is paying a (lying visit to Pincrolo. his birthplace. Interviewed, ho said Unit lie still believed the conference would succeed. “We must not bo astonished at the violent antagonisms and conflicts arising. They arc better fought out there, than on the battlefields. They arise, unoxnectcdly. and eventually result in a clearing of the ntmosnhere. They must he overcome with resolution and perseverance. As the conference has overcome, tho earlier dilliculties, so it will tbs Inter ones.”—A. and N.Z. Cable. HUNGARY AND RUSSIA. WASHINGTON, April 29. Count Sr.echenhi. the Hungarian Minister here, has issued a statement giving an official denial that Hungary has entered into any treaty with. Soviet Russia or that any negotiations have, been conducted.— A. and N.Z. Cable. THAT MEMORANDUM. LLOYD GEORGE’S CONSISTENCY REVEALED. Mention was made in the cable nows recently of a memorandum presented by Mr Lloyd George to the Peace Conference at Versailles on .March 26, 1919. TTiis memorandum was first made public in Signor Nitli’s book ‘Peaceloss EinTpe ’ The. cable message was brief. The following extracts from the memoranda’ll will be read will) interest at 'his juncture: What is difficult is to draw up a peace which wiil not provoke a fieJi struggle. The ponce of 1871 was believe;! by Germany to ensure not only her seenrty, bat her permanent ripromaey. II he facts have shown exactly the contrary. France itself has demonstrated that Uiosc who ray you can make Germany so -'ceble that she will never be abie to hit back are utterly wrong. You may strip Germany o> her colonies, reduce her armaments to a mere police force, and her navy to that of a fifth-rate Power; all the same, in the, end, if sho feels that she has been unjustly treated in the peace of 1919, she wiil finl means of exacting retribution from her conquerors. . . . I am, therefore, strongly averse to transferring more Germans frem German rule to tho rule of some ether nation than can possibly he helped. I cannot conceive any greater cause of future vp.r than that the German people, who have certainly proved themselves ono of the most vigorous and powerful races in the world, should be surrounded by a number of small Stales, many of them crr.?is»ting of people who have never previously ret up a stable Government f or themselves, but each of them containing large masses of Germans clamoring for reunion with their native land.

I would therefore take as a guiding principle of the pence that, a.s far as is humanly possible, the different , races should be allocated to their mother lauds, and that this human criterion should have precedence over considerations of strategy or economics or communications, which can usually be adjusted by other means. Secondly, I would say that the duration for the payments of reparation ought to disappear! if possible, with the generation which made the war. But there is a consideration in favor of a long-sighted peace which influences me even more than the desiro to leave no cause justifying a fresh outbreak thirty years hence. . . . The extreme figures

of the Terror are still in command in Russia. The whole of Europe is filled with the spirit of revolution. There is a deep sense not only of discontent, but of anger and revolt among the workmen against pre-war conditions. The whole existing order in its political, social, and economical aspects is questioned by the masses of the population from one end of Europo to the other. The greatest danger that I sec in tho present situation is that Germany may throw in her lot with Bolshevism, and place her resources, her brains, her vast organising power at the disposal of_ the revolutionary fanatics whose dream it is to conquer the world for Bolshevism by force of arms. If wo aro wise wo shall offer to Germany a peace which, while just, will be preferable for all sensible men to the alternative of Bolshevism. I would therefore put it in the forefront of the peace that once she accepts our terms, especially reparation, we will open to her tho rave materials and markets of the world on equal terms with ourselves, and will do everything possible to enable, the German people to get upon their tegs again, Wc cannot both cripple her and”’ expect her to pay. Finally, we must offer terms which a responsible Government in Germany can expect to be able to carry nut. If we present terms to Germany which arc unjust or excessively onerous no responsible Government will sign them, certainly the present weak Administration will not. . . . Wo should therefore ho driven back on the policy of blockading the country. That would inevitably mean Spartacism from the Urals to the Rhine, with its inevitable consequence of a huge Bed army attempting to cross the Rhine. As a matter of fact, I am doubtful whether public opinion would allow us deliberately to starve Germany. From every point of view, therfore, it seems to mo that wo ought to endeavor to draw up a peace settlement as if wo wore impartial arbiters, forgetful of tho passions of the war. This settlement ought to have three cuds in view. First of all, it must do justice the Allies by taking into account Germany’s responsibility for the origin of the war and for tho way in which it was fought, Secondly, it must be a settlement which a responsible German Government can sign m_ the belief that it can fulfil the obligations it incurs. Thirdly, it must bo a settlement which will contain in itself no provocations for future wars, and which will constitute an alternative to Bolshevism, because it will commend itself to all reasonable opinion as a fair settlement of the ' JihisoEean problem.

It is not. however, enough to draw up a just and far-sighted peace with Germany. If we are to offer Europe an alternative to Bolshevism we must make the League of Nations into something winch will be both a safeguard 1 in those nations who are prepared fur fair dealing with their neighbors, and a menace to these who 'would trespass on tho rights of their neighbors, whether they are imperialist empires or imperialist Bolsheviks. An essential. element, therefore, in the peace settlement is the constitution of the League of Nations ns the effective guardian of international right and international liberty throughout the world. , If this is to happen the first thing to do is that the leading members of tho League of Nations should arrive at an understanding between themselves in regard to armaments. To my mind it is idk to endeavor to impose a permanent limitation of 'armaments upon Germany unless wc arc prepared similarly to' impose a limitation upon ourselves. I .recognise that until Germany lias settled down and given practical proof that she has abandoned her imperialist ambitions, and until Russia has also given proof that sho docs not intend to embark upon a. military crusade against her neighbors, it is essential that the leading members of the League of Nations should maintain considerable forces, both by land and sea, in order to preserve liberty in tho world. But the first condition of success for tile League of Nations is a linn understanding between the British Empire and the United Stales of America and Franco and Italy that there will be no competitive bniidirur up of fleets or armies between them'.' Unless this is arrived at before tho covenant is signed, the League of Nations will be a sham and a mockery. I should like to ask why Germany, if she accepts the terms we consider just and fair, should not be admitted to the League of Nations, at any rate, as soon as she has established a stable and democratic Government? Would it not be an inducement to her both to sign the terms n.ml In resist Bolshevism? Might it not he safer that she should be inside tho league than that she should be outside it? Finally, I believe that until the authority and 'effectiveness of the League of Nations iias been demonstrated the British Empire and the United Slates ought to mve France a guarantee against the possibility of a new German aggression.' If. however, the Pence Conference is really to secure peace and prove, to the world a. complete plan of settlement which all reasonable men will recognise as an alternative preferable to anarchy, it must deal with the Russian situation. Bolshevik imperialism does not merely menace the States on Russia’s borders. It threatens the whole of Asia, and is as near to America a.s it is to France. It is idle to think that the Peace Conference can separate, however sound a pence it may have arranged with Germany, if it leaves Russia as it is to-day I do not propose, however, to complicate the question of tho peace with Germany by introducing a discussion of the Russian problem. I mention it .simply in order to remind ourselves of the importance of dealing with it ns soon ns possible.