FRENCH POLICY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 December 1924, Page 14

FRENCH POLICY.

TO GERMANY. * London Times Correspondent.) t • At the funeral of Anatole France in Paris ‘‘W remarkable 'thing'' Bapjfehed. j General? Gq;uraud ; Gbvenor <of .■ ffa(|-'ij-! ; h!erq: bf/thA : wai*, went’ np iitp'm.- *fosenh.;Caiilaux, shook him cord-. ; i^Uy* 1 by' "the hdrid,' and" erifeaged, Him UnA. Mg'&nve^dtidE‘ :; ; ' ( V ? .- t ; The General, a one-armed veteran, . with his breast cohered with military. decorations, stood hear the man' whose nname has"beporne 1 'symbolic of ’an ek- * rtreme form of pacifism. M. Caillaux, * -Minister, was put on nis’‘tfaSi durihg the war on." 1 'a charge criihinaT 1 relation s with , the'Enemies'"of France, He'was coni 'detuned; tobanishment, and even now not ‘the right to enter Paris ; ’H'lthßut a ;i sp.ecial permit front the Min- . * ister of the'Thter ibr: * : ’'But?' 'a s he said ; weeks ago in a speech to his old * : '“Public opinion changes, 4lt "comSs i: fo the'man who can. wait.” * .? ; 3JKe''GouraudrGaillaux 'handclasp is a ~ sign of the Meat "change 'which comes . 5 over the political' situation in France, a change that can be characterised as a return to" prewar conditions. ; The ■i -Bloc -NaSiofhd, which fonhed 'the “sky blue” background to M. Poincare’s power, had . its roots' in the mentality of the war period! fyom which it sprang. . : The Bloc'des which is, no w m * powpr/ is the product of a desirfo to for-, " get -the war and to take up affairs v where their thread was broken -in * August, 1914. 11 ! ‘ ‘ . i. For some time it has been forgotten ? —though it constitutes -the most strik- : ing refutation of the absurd but reiter- : ated charge ‘tflat France provoked’the ■ .war—thtvt thj&'Avhole trend of ifrench- « politics'hefore the war was towards an , all-round agreeme.rtt" with Germany. The elections of J,une, 1914, were -in- , deed a, triumph for M- Caillaux and ‘ for his policy? of a rapprochement with ? Germany. Later, during the war, M. Caillau-x went to a very dangerous ex- , in treating with the; enemies of : :■* file* country; for this he has paid deifrly. > But in his general policy of agreement i with Germany he was certainly not ; alone.' He/renfesented the, opinions of - that ‘.‘Centre 7 Gauche” which lias so ' frequently formed the governing majority of the French Republic. Its ideal is: ’.’peace inside the'tfountry, even if thq; sticlj: is ‘ needed ; "peace outside the - .country, eten if economic, advantages (.must be paid for with political conces.’siqlrPs.,,>w Now’ that M!‘ Herriot' is Prime f Miiiister, ‘M. 'Caillaux, liis intimate friend, has again become a real force ;in 'politics. Tendencies in favour of \ .Germany ‘are again iu’ the ascendant. •. {, > OF CHANGE. ' The /desire ‘for a solid' and lasting >■ r agreement with Germany can be easily explained. French, policy moves on lilies very .diffei-ent fi'om those of the - traditional * pblicy of G rent Britain. This country naturally tends to avoid unlimited general commitments ill internationgh relations. British treaties made ad hoc, for a definite time t>r for object. Thus, for instance, the war alliances made with the definite aim of defeating’the military power'of Germany lost a great deal of their vigour, was far as Great Britain WijA conderned, aswsoon as peace had been concluded. The French, on the btfier hand, are accustomed -to base • ■ sssir. a policy on solid general alliances, built !up for at least a generation, under the protection of which they can a- somewhat narrow prosperity.' formation of the Government of the! r ßlpc 3es ’Gauches created-a mistaken impression in Egnland, in so talas', it was* assumed that M. Tlerriot would be-more easily dealt with than M-. _ Poincare; It is true . that in his , apxiety to return as quickly as'possible tp, pre-war conditions of policy M. HerHbtjpade yerjr;large concessions to the British viejs. “'But he made this sacrifice—for fie and all Frenchmen think 4* i :;wa Sf 'a sacrifice-rin order'to put’Aw *.- eatV to war,,-conditions, and to staht riPfV- hp, Wified was a he'w Infinite alliance w.itli . Great- Britain, npt to win the war this time, but’'to Sarantee the peace, as France underfids it. He‘made'the sacrifice f r at > ..London Conference, and Frenchmen waited |or Great Britain to pay their ing of the Assembly of the League of Nations, Mr. ■ 'MacDonald made am allusion tp a possible revision.of the Tyeatyi; afid 3 - espeejally''the ih-rast-tifce, of feparajing ’Silesia from Get|!«uiy. Th^ffilliw;e s bf-'bhi^ >!%:ifiisfi;;Defeghtion to sjgn the Geneva Protocol ; ffihched the. matter in " the French ; Gteat' Ltfitain 'would remain S plated. So they have turned again old policy' of which’M. Caillaux mosfj. skilful, exponent. ! > ?-f ; dthef day‘ in Paris representa°f the and of the German 'met in friendly consultatm the question of a'pew .Com- . Treaty. ' It is a Sign of the times that’ although the German and French views were found to-be in . disagreementj the negotiations did; n °t break down. On the contrary, S|h. agreed that in spite of all ficulties \ modus vivendi had to be • and would be. found. So a new dhte ; h^'been' agreed "on for a resuinp-' taoh. of negotiations. Fve? 1 more signifiis ( ihe.hhange which can; be noticed Reparation Comimissioji. It ’ is tlie' ; of other nation.s, .who have npW to' restrain the Fy&hch frbhi' allowing’too great 'a la-ti-tnde to Germahy. i AND AGRICULTURE. 1 ; war and after'France lias a" great change : she lias be6p||ie. indjisfralised to a” degree’ which mipit / British' people hardly suspect. preppnderahce of agriculture 'has deweasejli aihd is decreasing daily. To wliat’ is taking place it is flplSsafy only to watch the process, Weh : known in Great # of the tra|iMqrniatiqn pf French cornfields into?: 'pasturage iii consequence of the to-'industrial cenTl}ere/are- areas "iii the deregions which'will never go back because of the. lack'of lsibour. The recovery of Alsace-Lorraine m stimulated a great development in the French metallurgical industry,-Un-foftunately is has not made .that industry self-contained within the circle resoufees. There’ is no : between coal and iron. On -'fimwL Alsace-Lorraine is full of tfemihdefs_ and stiggestion.s' of economjedinks with Germany. Prominent. Fri|h c h -statesmen'-are reviewing’ these %P?; S , The economic co-opera-German and. French industries, of metallurgy, is beginning them inevitable. iJjU’’ Genhank were senseless fo .go to war with a people who than inclined to work, with ' The same thing iiiay happen now a Llerniany may again refuse to cooperate with the growing movement which undoubtedly exists in France in mh econopaic entente ’with Durmg/the; Ruhr struggle* tlie French ConifForges', tlie; organisation' which represents the metallurgical industry, displayed' a constant desire to force the Ruhr, industrialists into a close economic union. Now methods of force are obsolete, but the aim remains the same.

An important reason for the french desire for * a 'good ‘ eiiconomid understanding Germany lies in the fact, tqn: tha't’tHe Frepqlf statesmen do not oon;sider the Dials’* finals s'etfljement of’the' repaTatiOps question. Their “view "is : t*haF ; if ‘ siicbbssiul. ’ the Daives- PJaii will; prhve 'much’mbre’ galling ‘to soyereignty than any Ruhr pledges'.; These/' they declare, were' local, iyhile the.‘ Dawes Plan ties up" the'whole " of Germahy add* places it uhder'liiterhatiqhar control; They accordingly consider that later, and especially when the annuity to be paid :un'der ' the plan assumes large proper- 1 tiohs—that is, after tfie fourth year — Gferhiany will 1 again raise the reparations issue. The French attitude then will depend on the arrangement which may be made meanwhile' for a commercial agreement between, the two countriesd advantageous to' both of them. ■ ’ v ; -'-' 4 ' ‘ 1 r There is one othpr curious consideration which, in the temper now prevailing in France, ’weighs in favour of pn agreement with Germany. The French have been made to feel very heavdv their dependence on the world (■qntrol- by. the City of the financial market. There is an idea abroad that if a Franco-German 1 agreement comes about American finance will discover a more direct route* to the Continent than through London. •But all these financial and economic considerations do not mean that France is preparing to take an attitude antagonistic to Great Bi-itain. As a matter of fact the formula, of the new and still tentative policy is an economic- entente with Germany, on the on £, hand, and, on the othex-, political agreements on definite points with Great Britain. In this respect the questions of the Middle and'Near East are those on. which French’and British policies, so it is contended in Paris, can agx-ee with the most fruitful results. • ~