THE ATTITUDE OF FRANCE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 112, 14 May 1931, Page 6

THE ATTITUDE OF FRANCE

'Y'HE attitude of France in the Concert of Europe has for a long time been difficult for the British people to appreciate. A London newspaper which has justly earned a reputation for its vulgarity and its preference for American Yellow Press methods over that of reliable news presentation alleges that Frpnce has captured the League of Nations lock, stock and barrel. This charge is ridiculous. Just imagine Lord Robert Cecil, who is a clever lawyer, an able politician, and a diplomat of the first rank, wasting his time on an. instrument that was not serving the interests of humaity as it proposes. Just imagine Professor Gilbert Murray, one of the most scholarly men of our day spending his great gifts upon a cause which is inimitable to the, interests of liberty and public well-being. Just Imagine one of the most successful, shrewd and able politicians of the day, Mr J. Ramsay MacDonald, being taken in by the humbug at Geneva. Lord Robert Cecil is a Conservative, Professor Gilbert Murray is a Liberal, and Mr -I. Ramsay MacDonald is a Labour Prime Minister. Are these men the dupes of a false idea? Mr Edgar Foa, the authority on the law of landlord and tenant, has devoted the years of his retirement, to furthering the work of the League of Nations Inion. Has this able lawyer grasped at a false proposition ami accepted it? No. decidedly no! France is still in the grip of fear and that is lhe basis cause of the difficulty in getting France Io think Conliuentall.v let alone. I ulema I ionally.