GREATER SECURITY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 267, 1 February 1928, Page 1

GREATER SECURITY

FRENCHMEN’S “CLAMOUR” nR STRESEMANN’S TRENCHANT SPEECH Cable.- Press Association.- Copyright, i BERLIN, Monday. Tie German Foreign Minister, Herr atjaemann, in the course of a speech n foreign affairs, said: “Are the | 0 r ls, ‘the might of England,’ valueless to Frenchmen, who clamour fori ‘in greater security? Does anybody doubt the ability of England and. France to cope with the Reichswehc, l ot of England to keep its pledged *Herr Stresemann said that no country had outstripped Germany in solving the security problem. It w-ns hypocrisy to demand security against Germany which country could scarcely defend its own frontiers and the lives its inhabitants. It had been repeatedly declared that cannon and machine-guns must disappear, but they were directed against a nation which was co-operating with the League of Nations, and with which international political differences -were non-existent. English voices had more loudly asked why British troops were still in the Rhineland, and English publicists regarded the continued occupation as a misfortune. Germany would not reject a discussion on the control of the frontier, but would not buy the eracuation of the Rhineland with obligations exceeding those imposed unjer the Versailles Treaty, and thus perpetuate mistrust and prejudice an -Fectlve peace policy.—A. and N.Z - Sun. SHARP RETORT CERTAIN NEWSPAPER S COMMENT LONDON, Tuesday. Ihe diplomatic correspondent of the "Dally Telegraph’’ says Herr Stresemann’s trenchant language has caused a certain amount of surprise, it is almost certain to draw a sharp retort from the Prime Minister of France, M. Poincare, if not from M. Briand, French Foreign Minister. British quarters, however, are Inclined to view the speech mainly as ons Intended for domestic consumption, as Herr Stresemann was constrained to dwell upon the demand for a withdrawal of the Allied troops from the Rhineland in order to prevent the Nationalists from accusing him of being timorous in pressing their claim. -A and N.Z.