PEACE OF THE WORLD.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1698, 14 March 1913, Page 5

PEACE OF THE WORLD.

i —♦- ——; ,r HOW IT MIGHT BE GUARANTEED. NEW ENTENTE PROPOSED. FRENCH SUGGESTION. ' By yolsst-aph—Press uusociatlon— OocyrUihl' ■' ' ' Paris, 'March Vi, >" Several newspapers are disappointed and surprised at Mr. Asquith's declaration that' Great Britain is under no . ligation to send .troops to fight on the Continent. , "Le Rappel" slates that it is glad tho question 'is settled. Anything is* proferable to uncertainty. "L'Eclairo" says that it .is not bad that " Franco should be told 6he must count solely on herself. , Other papers consider that England will treat ■ each separate case on its merits, which distinguishes the Entente from the Allianco. (Rcc. March 18, 11.15 p.m.) Paris, March 13. The "Temps," commenting on Mr. Asquith's statement on foreign affairs, remarks that if France cannot count on tho active co-oj)eration of Great Britain, as spontaneously offered in 1905, 1908, and 1911 that is .additional reason-for aug« menting tho nation's forces, . M. Jaures, the Socialist leader, suggest* that as France' and Germany do not' illtend aggressiveness, an entente between Franco, England, and Germany would guarantee the peace of the world.

A MILITARY ALLIANCE OPPOSED. Apropos of the above, it is interesting to recall that M, do Lanessan, a former French l Minister for Marine, conducted a. campaign last your against the idea of converting the Entente between England , and France into an alliance. "Persons," he 1 says, "who aro guided purely by their feelings'seo in the opposition shown Ijy British Liberals to the Tory schemes of an alliance a sort of success for Germany, and fear lest this should .lead to the cooling down of .tli?. friendship which our l'* tion has felt for the last few years towards the British people. In our opiniun the grave question which confronts Franco ought to bo discussed not on grounds, of feeling but on those of reason, anil" with exclusive regard to our interests,'-' The English never introdueo sentiment into their i'orwgn policy. Wo shall do wrong if wo do not imitato- their ~ example." ' According to Jr. de Lanessaii, all that Franco could do for England in case of, the conclusion of a military alliance is to- ensure for her the freedom of coin--mnnication with Egypt, aud India 1 by tlm Mediterranean, lint that would involve the maintenance by France of all s tho 23 , Dreadnoughts of tlie 1910 programme in tho Mediterranean, and in consequence either tho doubling of the programme or the' depletion'.of, the Channel and At« lnntic coasts. M. de Lanessan is convinced that'Francc could never undertake Bucln a burden or run such a risk. "An \ alliance would not guarantee us the military assistance .'of England nioro'' thtui the Entente does' at present, and'it would place us under her naval hegemony, if w« should abandon to her Navy the task of' defending our Atlantic coast. "In consequence, wo must not hesitate toimitate tho Government and the Liberals of Groat Britain; Let us treasure the. Entente Cordinle as it-is, develop our army ami navy for' oireusivei purposes, "and make ourselves sufficiently strong on'land not to have to submit, to tho hegemony of Germany, and sufficiently powerful at sea not" to liavo to submit to the hegemony of England. The stronger we are the more faithful our friends will be without tho necessity ,of an alliance, and the more our enemies will bo'tempted to bccoms our friends."