The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1928. THE WATCH ON THE RHINE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20103, 23 March 1928, Page 6

The Wanganui Chronicle FRIDAY, MARCH 23, 1928. THE WATCH ON THE RHINE

'THOUGH French public opinion is resentful of Dr. Stresernann’s recent demand, expressed with bluntless and severity, for the immediate evacuation by foreign troops of the Rhineland territory, there is no real answer to the case which he put forward for withdrawal. The two questions on which the German people feel most strongly in the general attempt to re-establish a spirit of goodwill between the late combatants in the war are those of warguilt and the foreign occupation. With regard to the first, opinion outside Germany is almost unanimous that for very good reasons the proposal to establish her innocence—or, rather, to put forward her defence—before some international court of justice would, if it were accepted, be utterly inimical to peace. But, as to the continued foreign occupation of German territory, Herr Stresemann is on very strong ground indeed. The British Government, or any body of British political opinion, we feel, hardly attempts to justify the form of “international servitude” signified by the presence of a French Army and the remnant of a British Army in present circumstances. Not only is Germany now a member of the League of Nations and an influential member of the League Council, but the Locarno Paet is an instrument which directly substitutes written pledges for armed force as the symbol and sentinel of security. If it is necessary still to keep an armed watch on the Rhine, then that solemn document is a piece of meaningless hypocrisy; if, as we believe, the signatories intended to honour the bond, then the continued occupation is an affornt 1o commonsense and justice. It is also an affront to the German people, and a standing menace to peace. It serves no purpose of any kind, moral or practical. It wounds German pride, but does not intimidate the German people. It is a nuisance to the Allied Governments, it is a nuisance and an anxiety to the League of Nations, it confers no distinction on a secure and prosperous France, and the occupying armies could not be used for any offensive purpose in any circumstances that are at the moment conceivable. So far as the British troops are concerned, it can hardly be doubted that tile British Government would eagerly withdraw the small force remaining to-morrow but for the fear of offending France and possibly because to leave France in supreme control would be to focus the German agitation against her and make it more difficult for Great Britain to play a friendly part. The French Government has proclaimed over and over again, with a sincerity that we do not question, its desire for a real peace in Europe and particularly for a real peace with Germany. But it will never engender the pacific spirit in the German nation by keeping a large military force, armed to the teeth, not merely looking over its neighbour’s fence, but seated comfortably on its neighbour’s property with an air of remaining there until the crack of doom.