The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1922. INTERNATIONAL POLEMICS.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 May 1922, Page 4

The Daily News. TUESDAY, MAY 16, 1922. INTERNATIONAL POLEMICS.

The sound of applause that greeted the completion of the good work of the Washington Conference had .barely ceased its reverberations before the nations were plunged into a vortex of disputations at Genoa. There is no accounting for the discord which has now assumed dangerous proportions, unless it arises from the selfish desire on the part of some of the nations to get the best of the deal in bargaining with others. Apparently the same spirit is actuating foreign statesmen as that which is dominating the Labor world—a reflection of the spirit that caused Germany to make war on the Allies. Evil passions are at the root of the present international scheming and intrigues, and Germany is still the arch plotter. Unhappily _ the French temperament and vision are of such a peculiar constitution that French statesmen are easily side-tracked, with the result that their outlook is restricted and their judgment warped by inherited fears and suspicions. The part France has played at Genoa evokes pity more than censure. Instead of trusting to British good faith and justice the French Premier has taken alarm at a shadow and stampeded where a firm co-operation with her ally and best friend (Britain) was to her advantage. Germany, having joined hands with Soviet Russia, has thereby set French teeth on edge. Never have French statesmen committed a more serious blunder than in setting to work to wreck the Genoa Conference, and thereby playing into the hands of Germany, besides emboldening the Soviet rulers to take a determined stand in defying Britain, Uranee, Italy, and other nations keenly interested in helping Russia to make good. No surprise ean, therefore, be felt at the reply of the German Government to the demand of the Reparations Commission, and their point-blank refusal to impose new taxation in order to raise the required fifty million sterling before the end of the current month. To use a common, but somewhat vulgar, expression. “Germany lias other fish to fry.” She wants to obtain as much raw material as possible, not only from Russia, but from the Argentine, and her desire in this matter probably arises more from the wish to prevent her late, enemies obtaining that material than from a national economic point of view. If Germany is to carry out a system of barter and purchase she must necessarily get hold of all the money she can in order to forward her own interests, and she is, therefore, bent on shelving her reparations obligations, unless the money is provided for her by means of an international loan. She has never shown any signs of a change for the better in morality or integrity, but is to-day as much steeped in truculence and intrigue as in the time of the Empire. That the Allies should object. to Germany accepting and utilising an Argentine credit in order to ship goods to Russia is natural, because they are fully aware of the dangers attaching to such a menace to peace, as well as retard the payment of reparations. The moves on the board are just such as might be expected from Germany, whose main object is to

strengthen herself and leave the Allies to do the best—or worst—they please. America, by holding aloof from the Genoa Conference, is able to judge fairly accurately how the international game is proceeding. It would seem, however, that she is deriving some satisfaction at the trend of events as regards the Russian problem being in accord with United States policy. While there is nothing alarming in the present state of affairs connected with international polemics, or disputations, the situation is creating uneasiness. The Genoa Conference was a venture of considerable boldness, but the prospects of any material benefit arising therefrom appear at present as not very hopeful.