The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1932. A WORKER FOR PEACE.

Southland Times, Issue 21648, 9 March 1932, Page 4

The Southland Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. Luceo Non Uro. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9, 1932. A WORKER FOR PEACE.

Briand, it may be said with some confidence* had passed off the political stage when death took him. Only a few weeks ago it was clear that his grip on the French politicians had relaxed, and though his frequent reappearances in office might have prepared the world for his return to the control of the French Foreign Office, his recent removal suggested that he would not again control the foreign policy of his country. Briand has been called a constructor of peace. Certainly he led his countrymen in the rapprochement with Germany, ■ when he met Stressemann in a small village and in a quiet conversation laid the foundations of those moves which more than anything else diluted the feeling of distrust separating the two countries up to that point. He was eager to eliminate the war hatred, but in all his efforts he could not forget he was a Frenchman, and the plans he produced, including the United States of Europe, were to a large extent, stultified by the apparent, desire to maintain French domination in Europe. In spite of his efforts, his placatory utterances, the threat of an AustroGennan Customs union found him keenly alive to French interests and determined that all the schemes for the advancement of peace in Europe should be planned in such a way that France's dominant position was not prejudiced. Perhaps his course was shaped by his knowledge of his countrymen's attitude. Certainly he was regarded by many Frenchmen with grave suspicion, and on more than one occasion after the end of the war he was given unmistakable evidence of this distrust. He was, however, a firm adherent of the League of Nations, and he laboured assiduously for the extension of its influence. No man could take up the duties of Minister of Foreign Affairs in France without knowing that the work was extremely difficult, because while France gives loyal adherence to the League, she regards her Foreign Ministers as the special guardians of the Treaty of Versailles, and any concession to Germany is viewed with anxious suspicion. Briand was conscious of the urgent need for amity. He saw that a distrustful Germany made the road to real peace more difficult, and he laboured long to produce more friendliness, but, so far as official acts were concerned, he stood firmly to the French rights, receding only when (he pressure of facts deprived retreat of any alternative. He was for so long in charge of France’s foreign policy that he must be given a large share of responsibility for the attitude which has made the removal of the faults of the peace treaty such a slow business; but his caution, his stiffness was inspired by his knowledge of French opinion, and it was always less marked than that of the governments in which he served. His record of service to France was long and honourable. During the war he was assailed for lack of vigour, but - that weakness was the product of a set of circumstances for which he was not responsible, and though Clemenceau drove his Ministry from office, Briand never forfeited the regard of his countrymen. Lacking the fiery nationalism of Poincare, he was more suited to the work of dealing with the problems of peace, especially in regard to Germany, because he was readier to forget war hatred. His attitude to Germany was never one of animosity, but he was a Frenchman first and an internationalist afterwards, an order of preference which cannot be condemned even if it assisted in delaying the accomplishment of those changes in international relations which are now urgently necessary to retrieve the economic strength of the world. The tributes paid to his name come from men who worked with him, and their words show that they recognized in Briand the Frenchman who most effectively toiled to advance, the cause of peace and to build up the strength of the League.of Nations.