FRANCE AND THE RUHR.

Gisborne Times, Volume LIX, Issue 9575, 28 July 1923, Page 5

FRANCE AND THE RUHR.

(To the Editor.) Sir,—For months now our papers have been full of the French occupation of the Ruhr. Is France justified in strangling Germany ? We must endeavor to find out, for tlie fate of civilisation depends upon the answer. The fall of the mark shows the urgency of the question. Six weeks ago, it stood at 90,000 to the £ ; on Saturday it touched two millions. Can you allow me a little space in which to place before your readers the essential facts? The first is: That the Germans, during their retreat from France, destroyed everything, they could. They are clearly liable to make that good. The second is that during the closing months of the war, we assured the people of Germany, by every means in our favor, 'that, if they would only get rid of the Kaiser and the military class, we should give them decent Under that promise, their resistance crumbled and then we forced: them to sign the Treaty of Versailles, with its confession of German gui It and its Reparations, fixed at an impossible amount. The French made it high; we made it higher by putting on top our claim for pensions—a quite unj notifiable olaim and peculiarly so in view of our previous peace propaganda. Worse still, we forced the Germans to sign that Treaty by “maintaining the blockade,” that is starving their babies. till they gave in. The .next fact, 'and I think the vital one, is that the Germans repeatedly offered to reconstruct the devastated areas and the French refused to accept. The gnat French economist, Gide, of Paris, says: “This much justice must be rendered to the German Government that it suggested this mode of reparations itself, and it is regrettable that the French Government, should have opposed it. It must be confessed that the principal cause of. their opposition was nothing but the avidity of manufacturers and speculators, anxious to reserve' to themselves the monopoly of this vast enterprise, each, ruined town being a gold-mine to them.” The manufacturers wanted “the money.” There is no such thing as money in international exchange. That is' conducted almost entirely by bills of exchange, which are promises to pay for goods received. Germany cannot obtain these bills, because we are all doing everything we can to prevent German goods coming into our countries. A\ e have tied the hands of Germany; we have starved; her and now France- is punishing her for net producing reparations. The deadlock is of our making. .There is great reason to suspect that France intended it so and that she fixed the reparations so high, because she intended to use, them as a strangle-hold on Germany. She has asked for Reparations. They have been offered to her and refused. She has asked for security. Lloyd George offered her the guarantee of England against unprovoked German invasion and: that, too. was refused. What she really wants is the destruction and dismemberment of Germany. The occupation of the Ruhr, if ruthless enough, may give her that. It cannot give her oithei- reparations or security. Are we prepared to stand by and see Germany broken up? It is time for ns to think. The destruction of a great Empire is not a thing that is done and finished with. Onc-e you have Germany smashed to fragments, how are you going to keep her down If we help the French now. we tie ourselves to the policy of brute force for ever. There will be no rest for ns. Every sign of returning vitality in Germany will be a danger-sig-nal for France and for us till the wrong is wiped out. If harmless tierman traders thrive in Russia, we shall dream of a Russo-German Alliance, and the War of' Revenge, and there will e “no discharge in the war.” W c are already carrying a frightful burden of war debt: France a much, greater. All this will have to be ignored in plena ration for possible war. and bankruptcy is certain unless war comes first. .There is only one way tr • -cane —the League of Nations way. It vwn nations' make a treaty of peace, that promise will bind them only as long as they wish to keep if; but if a dozen States undertake that, everyone of them will refrain from attack and will combine against any aggressor, peace is certain. A few months l will probably decide. There is still time _ for us to throw our weight on the right side., but the time is short—l am. vour.s. etc., THOMAS TODD.