THE RUHR TROUBLE.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 April 1920, Page 2

THE RUHR TROUBLE.

{By Electric Telegraph—Copyright.) BRITISH NOTE TO FRANCE. TAitlSj April 9. At a meeting of the French Cabinet he Premier, M. Millerand, announced bat he had received a verbal comnunication from the British Cabinet in regard to the French occupation of German towns, but the official text had not yet arrived. i LONDON, April 10. 1 The “Times” understands that at Thursday’s Cabinet meeting some Ministers urged that the wording of the British Note to France, especially the conclusion,-'should be modified, so as to render it less offensive. Mr •Lloyd George, however, insisted on the harsher wording, and carried his point. The Note consists of four type-writ-ten foolscap sheets. It states that M. Millerand and his colleagues had given the 'impression that .France would abstain from single- ! handed action. The Note expects France not to again act on her own initiative; otherwise the work of the ! Peace Conference would be futile, j The Note instructs the British Am | ■ bassador at Paris to abstain from at- ; tending the Conference of Ambassadors until assured that France will act j in concert with the Allies in future. FRENCH PRESS SURPRISED. PARIS, April 9Britain’s opposition to the Fiencli occupation of the right bank of the Rhine has caused some consternation. iThe newspapers compare the British attitude with that of faithful Belgium. “be Matin” suggests that the Brit- | isli have conferred separately with Italy P and America., which is regrettable. Lc Matin” seeks to modify the tension 'by | the suggestion that Britain does not p even seek to represent Germany as m- ! nocent, bujt merely differs over the methods adopted.

LLOYD GEORGE CRITICISED. PARIS, April 9. M. Pertinand in the “Echo de Paris” denounces ARr Lloyd (George as a politician who is entirely lacking in judgment.” He adds; “But the French people rely on the good sense of their friends across the Channel to bring Mr Lloyd George to heel, and to force pipon him the interpretation of the Anglo-French alliance from which hi* should never have departed.”

BRITISH VIEWPOINT. LONDON, April 9. In a statement by a high authority in Britain on the Anglo-French situa tion, it is pointed out that any com munieation of British official i ieu s of France as regards the despatch o» French troops to the neutral zone against the Germans was made primar ily to prevent any possible damage to the Anglo-French Alliance. “On this,” savs the authority, “the hope of the world centred. Certainly the objection was raised not with the purpose of ex citing public opinion in Britain or any other country. The fundamental idea of British Ministers is that any alliance would rapidly dissolve if individual members of the alliance acted on their own initiative in any important matter without the assent of the other members. It does not serve the cause of any alliance to gloss over or ignore the seriousness of any Ally acting militarily on its own initiative against the opinion of its Ally” The British were equally concerned in securing the execution of the Peach Treaty with any other signatories, but. they were o opinion that it would only weaken the authority of the Allies if violent action were taken without an unimpeachable reason. It is. held the Treaty in this instance did not contemplate. a situation like that which has now arisen. The British view is that in the neutral zone, in the event of. serious social disorder, either the Allies must take the responsibility for restoring order or must allow the German Government to assume the responsibility. Tins would lie subject to suitable German guarantees. The Treaty never contemplated making the 00-mile zone one of perpetual disorders, wherein neither the Allies nor Germany would be able to exercise authority. ThS situation to-day, according to the British view, is one only for police action against disorder, and it is felt that it is for the better that this should be pointed out now, and a clear understanding reached. The British are equally ready with the French to insist on the execution of the Treaty if there is any hesitation on the part of the Germans in fulfilling tlieir guarantee to evacuate the neutral zone at the appointed time, and Britain was quite willing to agree to any necessary action if this agreed period passed. 1 French Government had been fully m formed on this view more than once before troops were sent. Faith in tic Entente and friendliness for the French people was in no way diminished, and the announcement that France acted on her own initiative against the advice of the Allies is merely a statement of fact necessary to make it clear t ia it is impossible for the Allies as a whole to accept the position that they can c committed by independent action of nnv one Ally; and it is necessary to strengthen the Alliance by ensuring fu-

ture solidarity. It is added that the views expressed are not those of any individua Minister, but- the whole British Cabin*

BELGIAN SUPPORT. RR.USSEsLfS, April 9. T’ sa King presided at a Council o Ministers. H was decided, out of sym pathy with Fiance, to place a Belgiar division at the disposal of the Freud commander in the Ruhr region.

RUHR WORKERS’ LEADER. PARIS, April 10. Important facts, throwing new light on the Ruhr workers’ attitude, and the timeliness of France’s intervention, are supplied by the well-known American paper, the Chicago “Tribune’s” correspondent who lias had ail interview with Otto Bodenseipeii, the Ruhr Reds’ Commander, who explained why the workers have risen. He said. “It is foolish to call us Bolsheviks or terrorists, and to claim that we broke the Peace Treaty. Our men were actually disbanding, when the Berlin Government’s Reicheswehr forces turned their artillery upon us. Wo protested to General Von Wat-ter, their commander, who said “ho did not know of the at-

* tack.” We are the same armed work-, ing men. who defeated the recent Kapp militarist coup at Berlin, and we continue' to-day to fight the monarchists. •We have proof that the militarists of Germany, are really under Noske (the military minister who lately resigned after the coup, which he failed to nip at "the start, and we have proof that they have a secret army of 800,000 men. We know that these militarists have planned to control the German Government, and to retain Noske in power, to build up the German monarchy again. These men are prepared now to overrun France and instigate a French revolution within two years, they assuring themselves that 'both England and America will not participate in a move- ! ment to repel them. We lost, certainly, ibut it was because w'e childishly trusted the German Government’s pledges.”

“But,” lie added, “we will continue war on militarism till tlie end.”

THE RUHR TROUBLE. PARIS, April 9. A German patrol near Niederwollstadt, when encountering a French patrol, exchanged shots with the piatrol. The German patrol officer was wounded. PARIS, April 10.

The “Chicago Tribune’s” correspondent at Frankfort says the shooting incident some days ago there was due to a mob’s hostility to the French African troops- on their entry into the city. The correspondent says he later saw seven bodies in the street (four men, two women, and one boy) being _ those killed by the machine gune, which the Algerian and Moroccan sharp shooters, when posted on a side-walk, fired into the hostile crowd's of several hundreds, who were at a distance of several hundred yards. The crowd at once scattered ,and the incident closed in three minutes. AMSTERDAM, April 9. The “Berliner. Tageblatt” states there have been further arrivals of French troops in the occupied zone. Additional troops crossed the Rhine at various points into the mental zone. Other French troops accompanied by tanks, have also left Strassburg in an easterly direction.

A STRONG PROTEST. '(Received This Day at 8 a.m.\ LONDON, April 10. The “Daily Express” understands Britain’s Note to France contains a very firm protest.