A RUINOUS POLICY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XIII, Issue 32, 20 January 1923, Page 5

A RUINOUS POLICY

French Course Denounced MR. LLOYO GEORGE'S ARTICLE. JUMPING ON PROSTRATE ENEMY. IBy Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.] The following and all Mr. Lloyd George’s articles are copyrighted by the United Press of America in all countries; copyright in Australasia by the Australasian Press Association; copyright in Britain by the “Daily Chronicle.” Reproduction in full or in part is prohibited-

London, Jan. 18. Mr. Lloyd George in his sixth ar ticle writes:—

France has once more jumped on the prostrate form of Germany with sabots that come down with a thud that sickens the hearts of multitudes on both sides of the Atlantic whose friendship for France stood the losses and grief of four years of war. Germany having been 'overthrown and disarmed, and her arms bound with the thongs of a stern treaty, the process of dancing on her when she is down can at any time be performed with impunity by any of the Powers alone. No doubt there is some joy for the unsportsmanlike mind in kicking a helpless giant who once maltreated you and who, but for the assistance of powerful neighbours, would have done so a second time.

The additional coai and timber that will be wrung out of Germany will scarcely cover the direct cost of collection. These punitive measures must in the end diminish the means of reparation, and therefore fall on the victor. The existing armies of occupation have already cost Germany over £300,000,000. How much better if this money had gone to rebuilding the devastated area. Between the cost of occupation and contributions already made. Germany has already paid threefold the indemnity Bismarck exacted in 1870. and this without making allowance for the surrendered colonies. Let, therefore, no one approach this problem as if dealing with a recalcitrant country that is deliberately refusing to acknowledge any of her obligations under the treaty. THE WAY TO COMMON RUINThe indirect cost of these Aggressive measures to victor and vanquished alike will be crushing. It is already accumulating* There may be a rally, but 1 will be surprised if the improvement is more than temporary. All that is obviqus for the moment to the untrained eye is the way the mark is dragging the French and Belgian franc along in its downward course. The policy which demoralises German currency is also fatal to the solvency of French finance. As long as reparation coal is dug out with bayonets and timber cut down with the sword, it is idle to talk of restoring the mark by putting German finance in order. No tariff, however nimble, could keep pace with the runaway mark. If a mere threat of force produced such a panic, what would be the effect of actual measures? It is safe to predict that the French advance will not arrest the mark’s flight. The only chance of securing an early instalment of reparations is by pressing Germany to put her finances in order, and the only chance of a German loan is by restoring the stability, of German currency.

French statesmen have deliberately thrown these chances away. The effect on their own currency must be grave. Frenchmen will. have to pay an increased cost of living for a venture dictated by short-sighted and shorttempered statesmanship. When one thinks of the consequence one is driven to ask whether French politicians are really seeking reparations or pursuing another purpose quite incompatible with the recovery of money payments under the treaty. The feather-headed scribes who advocated this rash policy, assume that France will be helped because Germany will be reduced to impotence —for how long ? German disintegration is not unlikely in consequence of this move. Frenchmen still hanker after the days when the Bavarians and Wurtenburgers were the .allies, almost the vassals of France against Prussia. That was the lure which led Napoleon to his ruin. It is the attraction which is now drawing France to sure doom. THE CONSEQUENCES. Nothing can keep the Germans apart; they will re-unite at a suitable moment under more favourable conditions, freed from external as well as internal debt. France will have lost her reparations, only retaining the hatred of an implacable foe. There is no knowing what will happen when a brave people numbering sixty millions find themselves faced with utter ruin. The French proclamation with iij threat of the severest measures in case of recalcitrancy is ominous of much that may happen. No people accustomed to national independence will be long able to tolerate a foreign yoke. Herr Cuno’s action is the first manifestation of revolt, which will grow in intensity. Germany, will inevitably be driven to desperate courses. A Communist Germany would infect Europe. Europe’s vitality is so Towered by exhaustion that it is in no condition to resist a plague. Russia with her incalculable resources of men and material is at hand, needing all that Germany can best give and spare. The Bolshevik leaders only require what Germany is so well fitted to supply in order to reorganise their country and convert it into the most formidable state in Europe or Asia. When the French troops marched on Essen they began a movement the most far-reaching, probably the most sinister in its consequences that has been witnessed in Europe for many centuries. And these ! people are the people who after fifty years of patient laborious waiting demonstrated to the world in 1918 Germany’s stupidity in abusing victory in 1871. If the teacher soon forgets his own special lesson the pupil is not likely to remember it when fury overcomes terror.—(A. and N.Z.)