The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1922. THE RUSSO-GERMAN PACT.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 April 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 1922. THE RUSSO-GERMAN PACT.

There can be no doubt as to the severity of the shock caused at Genoa by the sudden discharge of the Russo-German bomb-shell. Whether it will prove to be but the most spectacular feature in a pyrotechnic display, or the prelude to more serious happenings, time will show. Regarded in the light of experience there is nothing surprising in an agreement being entered into between these two nations. It is only the particular method adopted for its announcement invested the news with surprise. It would seem the fact that the Germans and Russians were negotiating an agreement has been known for some time past, though it does not appear to have bee” taken seriously, possibly because both countries are regarded as broken reeds, for the time . being at least. If the situation is examined historically there should be no difficulty in tracing a. continuity of policy on Germany’s part and of expediency on Russia’s. It was owing to German finance, scheming and intrigue that Sovietism was made possible in Russia, and though the German regime which envisaged a vast Teutonic Eastern Empire has passed away, it would seem that the dream has been left as a legacy to the country. It may not be so difficult to trace the cause for this new alliance. Possibly it will be remembered that early in February last Herr Wirth, speaking in the Reichstag, stated that Germany would not consent to the colonisation of Russia by the Entente. The immediate reason for that ( otherwise astounding pronouncement was the uneasiness felt by the Germa Government about certain rumors relating to alleged direct negotiations between Russia and France. There was a vagueness about these rumors that was characteristic of German intrigue, and the most that could be claimed was that there had been an exchange of views between the two Governments. It was pointed out by the Manchester Guardian’s Berlin correspondent that, tactically, Russia would be in a far stronger position at the Genoa Conference than would Germany, as she had something to offer in the way of material wealth, although perhaps only in the distant future. The point was stressed that Russia was an undefeated Power, with frontiers touching, or near to. important regions like Asia Minor, Mesopotamia. Persia. Afghanistan, India. China and Mongolia, so that she could play at high politics, while Gerjnany, on the other hand, could have no foreign policy of her own, and any material wealth she may have tn offer was nredistined for the Allies by the Treaty of Versailles. Hence, Russia was in a position tn bargain; not so Germany. Natural Iv the Ten tonic wire-pullers set about, estimating what France had to offer Russia in return for an economic and military alliance, supposing that France outbid Germany. Apparently the Germans argued that while France could give neither money nor materials for the restoration of Russian industries. , she could make Germany give , machinerv. mnnnfnctured goods, labor and technical skill, under i

cover of Russian recognition of the Versailles Treaty, and a consequent Russian claim to reparations. Though, if France linked up with Russia, it would probably involve her cutting adrift from the Entente in order to gain the Rhineland, it was considered that Britain could not stop her, and that possibly even Japan might eventually join this FrancoRussian Alliance so as to counterpoise Anglo-American predominance. To the German mind these factors naturally took on a disconcerting aspect. What, therefore, is more likely that the German authorities lost no time in making a move towards cheek mating any designs the French had in view, with the result that the agreement which was hurled at the other delegates to the Genoa Conference was fixed up and played as a trump card? A greater political blunder could not have been perpetrated, especially at a time like the present. The object of the Conference was to find a way whereby the economic conditions of Europe could be restored. Germany, while- in default with her treaty obligations, and pleading poverty, yet professed her readiness to help in the task of reconstruction, though armed with a weapon to stab the Entente in the back. It only needed such an act of treachery to harden the hearts of the Allies. Figuratively, Germany has cut the ground from under her feet by an act of such erass folly that places her statesmen on a par with petty politicians Who grasp at the shadow and lose the substance. The fable of the eagle and the bear is only in the making. When it is finished there will be a moral the like of which has never seen the light of day.