GERMANY CONCERNED

Hawera Star, Volume XLVI, 25 June 1927, Page 5

GERMANY CONCERNED

OVER POINCARE’S SPEECH. WHICH IS TO PREVAIL. SPIRIT OF PEACE OR WAR. ») oABijJV t-Uhbj AJjal'ClAiTOA—cuniiiLm BERLIN, ’June 23. “I ask France whether the spirit of war is to stay for ever or whetner the spirit Of peace will prevail. All nations desiring peace have a rigid- to ask the question, as all bear the responsioility,” said Dr. Stresemann in tiie Reichstag, replying to M. Poincare’s speech at Luneville. “M. Poincare’s policy must be either that of the Ruhr or of Locarno; it cannot be both. Germany is ready to grasp the hand stretched out in the spirit of conciliation, not the hand which the conqueror offers. No responsible German would be sufficiently criminal to instigate war the Powers of either the East or the West.

“The present German Government has repudiated the idea- of revenge. It only now wants the restoration of German sovereignty: The settlement of Fanco-Gernian relations will not be brought nearer by digging _up ancient history. M. Poincare’s references to France’s desire for good relations will find a strong echo in Germany.” \ Dr. Stresemann pointed out that M. Poincare’s reproach that Germany possessed a warship named Alsace was incomprehensible, as that vessel was built in 1903, and had been -specifically left Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Germany had disarmed to nakedness. Out of the 100 questions relating to military clauses of the Versailles Treaty only two were unsettled. This, with the Locarno reduction of troops in the Rhineland, was- not a proof of goodwill to Germany, but the fulfilment of the Locarno Treaty. “If France’s promises were not kept, there was the danger that other ■promises would not be fulfilled. It- was a question of the honesty of the cosignatories. Germany could not wait till German public opinion had lost patience on that matter. He added that no effort had been made at Geneva to persuade Germany to act against Russia. Germany could not co-operate with the other Powers in their disputes with the Soviet-

Dr. Stresemann expressed confidence that Germany would, in September, be given a seat on the Mandates Comma srion in accordance with the decision of the League Council.

DR. STRESEMANN’S SPEECH. PREPARED STATEMENT OF CABINET. LONDON, June 23. The Berlin correspondent of “The Time-s” says that- Dr. Stresemann’s speech, to a greater degree than usual, was the prepared utterance- of his Cabinet rather than the- personal views of the Foreign Minister. Dr. Stresemann had previously lengthily conferred with the Coalition parties, resulting in Dr. Haas (Centrist Leader) reading a joint declaration expressing disappointment at the standstill in the Locarno policy, adding that if M. Poincare’s speech dominated French policy hopes of Franco-German co-operation must be abandoned and the work of Locarno would collapse.