SPIRIT OF WAR

Hokitika Guardian, 25 June 1927, Page 3

SPIRIT OF WAR

.Australian A X./,. Cable Association.)

RERUN, June 24. “f ask France whether the spirit, of war is to stay for ever, or whether Lite spirt of peace will prevail. All the nations desiring peace have the right to ask this question, as a!l hear respoiisibi! ity,” suitl .Herr St rcseiuiHiii (German Foreign Minister) in the Reichstag when replying to M. Poincare's recent speech at Lunoville on June 19th. He continued—"M. Poincare's policy must he either that of Ruhr or Locarno. It cannot he both. Germany is ready to grasp a hand stretched out in a spirit of conciliation, hut not the hand that a conqueror offers. No responsible German would be sufficiently criminal to instigate war against the Powers of either tho East or the A\ cst. The present German Government has repudiated the idea of revenge. U on ]v now wants the restoration ol German sovereignty. The settlement of FrancoGerman relations will not become nearer .by digging up ancient history. M. Poincare’s references to Franco’s desire for good relations will find a strong echo in Germany.'

Herr Stresmn.mi pointed out that M. Poincare’s reproach because- Germany possessed a warship named “Alsace" was incomprehensible, as the vessel was built in 1 f-d-i, and she bad been specifically left to Germany by the Versailles Treaty. Germany had disarmed to a. state of nakedness. Out of the hundred questions relating to military, the clauses of the Versaillcs Treaty only two were now unsettled. This, with tho Locarno reduction of the troops in the Rhineland, was not a proof of French goodwill to Gcrmri.ny, but was a fulfilment of the Locarno Treaty. If France’s promises were not kept, there was danger that other promises would not he fulfilled. It- was a question of the honesty of the co-sig-natories. Germany could n’ot wait till German public opinion had lost patience on that matter. He added that no effort had been made at Geneva to persuade Germany to act against Russia. Germany could not co-operate with other Powers in their disputes with the Soviet. Herr Strcsemann expressed his confidence that Germany -would in September be given a seat oil Ihe Mandates Commission in accordance with the. decision of the League Council. LONDON, June 23. The Berlin correspondent of the Times says:—Herr Stresmann’s speech to a. greater degree than usual, was the prepared utterance of the German Cabinet. rather than the personal views of the Foreign Minister. Herr Strcsemann previously had lengthily conferred with the Coalition Parties, resulting in Dr Haas, the Centrist Party’s Leader, reading a joint declaration, expressing disappointment at the standstill in the Locarno policy, and adding that if AT. Poincare’s speech dominated French policy, the hopes of Franco-German co-operation must Ik? abandoned and the work of Locarno would collapse.