ALLIES' WEAK SPOTS.

Taihape Daily Times, 21 February 1918, Page 6

ALLIES' WEAK SPOTS.

LORD LANSDOWNE'S "MORAL."

FRANCE AND CLEMENCEAU,

LONDON, December 10

The health of the Allies, taking tbem all in all, is certainly better than that of our enemies. But there are diseased spots. They all seeni - t6 - have been showing their discolour and inflammation during these last few critical weeks. In England .there has been a serious strike, which- has cost the army and navy 600 aeroplanes.. Whether the masters or the workers were at fault is beside the .point. r , MANY TROUBLES. &***>»*

General Smuts has* taken a hand on behalf of the Government, but the fact that strikes have been allowed to. go on for five days before the istration have taken any notice,* of, them has not strengthened Ministers. At the .same time there have bee.t threats of risings in Ireland, necesitating the increase of the already strong garrison; a bitter fight in Canada on the question of conscription; continued trouble between leading ; ppliti-, cians and leading soldiers; ana'Xord Lansdowne's letter. The letter suggested that the Allies should, without further ado announce that' they did ' ~nr, hi not desire that Germany should dis-. --£ :- ■ rf appear from the list of Great Pqw_er.s, that there would be no ' economic boycott, and that the questions of freedom of the seas and establishment of a League of Nations would be discussed after the war. SXL -

But France is not all heaitHiness. There has arisen strong political disagreements, and the end of tfiem cannot be clearly seen. Partly, they are founded upon the warring ambitions of classes. But they derive" their strength from the facts that-Franße is very tired, very heavily bled, very seriously disorganised economically. It would be a mistake to regard M. Tho-

mas, the little bearded, quizzical exMinister of Munitions, as a peace-by-,; negotiation leader. His strong Socialist party does not openly ask for peace. It asked for the : Stojukholm conference, and it opposes that sweeping cleaning out of Boloism demanded and initiated by M. Clemenceau. Anxiety does not come so much from the semi-pacificism of the Thomas party, which is, I think, the strongest party in. French politics. Anxiety comes ;i*a.ther from misunderstandings and dreads in the country. CLEMENCEAU MINISTRY,. , The fact is that the Clemenceau

Ministry is a dangerous experiment. It may be a brilliant success. Or it may do grave damage. Clemenceau is intensely anti-German, and his every thought and act throughout the war have been devoted to intensification of the Allies' efforts. He is "The Tiger"—the uncompromising righting political and journalistic leader of the war-to-victory party. He undoubtedly has the bulk of the public and the armies behind him.

But his past political history has made the Socialists his bitter enemies. To them he is anathema —unscrupulous, they call him; a servant of the wealthy, an oppresor of the poor. Nothing he can do is right. And so h e is suspect. And when munition workers struck some days ago in an industrial section of France, and began riotous sabotage, and when Clemenceau threatened them with troops from the 'front, the word went round some sections of the army, and they announced that they would march on Paris if Clemenceau did that sort of thing. The Prime Minister's threat killed the sabotage, and industrial peace was restored. But such incidents show how leaders in France are playing with fireperhaps necessarily, but with grave danger. There are passions flaring up in France, as in Italy, which might menace the Allies' cause—passions encouraged by the ever-cuuning, oilhanded German agents. Clemenceau is rooting them out, and making France clean. But part of the harm has been done. '•' '-■ - j -