THE FRENCH NOTE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 93, 24 August 1923, Page 5

THE FRENCH NOTE

PUBLIC AND PRESS OPINION.

Press Association—Copyright, An» Italian and N 7. Cable Association. London, Align C 22.

The "Paris corresipondont of tlio Daily Telegraph says: “The thought uppermost in Frenchman's minds is what will happen if Britain refuses to change her viewpoint and af Britain and France decide to go separate ways, the former seeking an arrangement with Germany whereby she can recover the amount of her debt to America and Franco devising moans to recover twenty-six milliards of gpld marks. Tt will mean the snapping of the last threads of the Entente. If M. F incare took the sense of the Chamber and the Senate there is little doubt they would support him and it is believed new means of restraint would he imposed on Germany. The occupation of the Bnlir till the end of the year has always been envisaged and if no fuel can then be obtained it is suggested France will extend her occupation, to Frankfort. “The possibility of a revolution in Germany is not lost k’ght of here. Frenchman feel that if fear of the complete destruction of the edifice built up by Wilhelm L, Bismarck and Moltke does not induce Germany to accede to the French demands the inevitable result will he a. smash up of the German Empire. Tt is taken for granted that the Rhineland and independent Pruss. a will be left alone, and thus the question of France’s future secu'ity would be settled without any Ally’s help. They argue that if they cannot obtain reparations through Britain’s mistaken policy they can at any rate cripple Germany economically and make impossible that revenge which they believe exists in German hearts. A new republic would be -bom and conceivably Bavaria, Saxony and Wurtemburg would become one. Mr J. R. Clynes, interviewed, said the French Note was slightly better than some recent French speeches, “but taken as the test of France’s desire to get a ronaratvop settlement instead' of perm a non t dominion over a large part of German territory The Note is disappointing. It is some encouragement to have a large part of the Note devoted fo questions of finance, but France still rejects the sensible! and reliable method of fixing a figure within Germany's capacity to pay. An inquiry commission is surely the best body to deal with the subject. R : gid reliance upon the terms of the Treaty will never settle the issues.”

Tlie Daily Express snys M. Poincare has yield 'd nothing. The paper adds: “We are to get noticing out of reparations till France has had payment in full from Germany, and then M. Poincare offers to pay the debt to Britain in ‘O’ bonds, which are worth about as much as marks. While we regret that France has met the British proposa s in this spirit of obduracy it brings us to the inevitable conclusion that Britain must turn her back on Europe and leave it to stew in its own juice, surrendering nothing to Germany, France or anyone else. We are the war’s only Don Quixotes and we alone are ■paying reparations. Since the armistice we have paid £600,000,000 in unemployment relief and we cannot go on. Let England withdraw from Cologne and leave the witches in the cauldron of Europe. Let her call in the new worlds overseas to redress the balance of the old world in Europe. in the Dominions and Crown colonies resides our future.”

Hie Daily Chronicle expresses the hope that the Government will not alow itself to be drawn into endless discussions and controversies. It says; “These exchanges of views ought to have taken place before the French occupied the Ruhr, and nob now. The French, having taken that disastrous coutso, must either come to terms at once with us before we are all involved in disaster, or we must part company. 1 The worst result would be if we neither Settle nor part quickly.’’ The Da*ly Telegraph says there is little hope of agreement concerning the Ruhr and asks: “Is there hotter hopb regarding the amount of reparations and inter-Allied debts? Lin|iappily there is not. World opinion! will view the F.onch stubborn refusal to submit to an outside body the question of Germany’s capacity to pay with even greater disfavor than her occupation of tho Ruhr. There is no advance and no movement for all practical purposes, and tho Note leaves things precisely aa they were. The French occupation, which was designed to create the will to pay reparations, has simply produced a furious reso vo to pay nothing at all.”

The Morning Post says: “The crux of the situation is the Ruhr and the first step to a solution lies in the cessation of passive resistance. Herr Stresemann has a clean and the greatest service he can do is to end the measures which his predecessor launched. If the Germans ended resistance we are certain they would bo surprised at the generosity With which M. Poincare would treat them. The result of the modifica-

tion of the Ruhr occupation would be that Britain without loss of dignity could associate herself with Franco in the sanctions which must he imposed, or held in reserve if adequate reparations are not forthcoming. As soon as France and Britain come together again controversies such as that over the legality of the occupation, inte"-Allied debts and the assessment of payment would disappear.”