Newspapers / The Daily Advance (Elizabeth … / May 10, 1924, edition 1 / Page 6
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Outlook At Last For Settlement In Europe Though Way May be I-ong and Hard, Willi Temporary Set backs, Path to Peace Seems Now Reasonably Clear and Not Impracticable of Passage Ity I'llANK H. SIMONDS Copyrlshtetl i024 by McCIpic Newspaper Syndicate Washington. May 10?While the ruutn< uotii tin* German Kvfin r>ufiicU*utly ooacuiv t? r?S? some doubt as to Immediate Ger man policy, and while in addition we still have to deal with the re sults of the French election. It none the less seems possible now to fore cast with reasonable accuracy that th?? Dawes plan for dealing with the German reparations is almost cer tain to be put into operation and that any clash which can be expected will come after the application and not before. The decisive gesture, that gesture which at all times was bound to be decisive, has come from the British Prime Minister. The declaration of Itamsey MacDonald to his own Welsh constituents that so far from i seeking the isolation of France it was the precise thing which he de-j sired to avoid and his appeal for; Anglo-French co-operation mark a complete and final break between the Lloyd Georgian and so-called "liberal" school of thought and the preaent Premier. Underlying all the criticism of; France which has been In general circulation both In Great Britain and In America, In all the years since, the Paris Conference, has been the j double assumption that the French j position was inherently wrong and i that by some curious process of iso- i latlon France could be subjected to [ the coercion of the popular sentl-j ment of the world at large and thus brought to heel. , This was the last phase of British j foreign policy under Lloyd George and it went down to final disaster at! Genoa, two years ago, when the! British Prime Minister discovered that, so far from achieving the iso-; latlon of France, the combination of his avowed policy and the sudden ! publication of the German-Russian; treaty at Rapallo had consolidated j around France the smaller Central European states, notably Poland,, j Czecho-Slovakia and Rumania. Where George Met Defeat Genoa represented something like ; an open break between France and :l Great Britain and the consequences were disclosed when Turkey, In part through Frenclr and Italian encour-i agement, succeeded in breaking the j military strength of the Greek forces I in Asia Minor and came back to the I Straits with a victorious and lntran-i slgeant army. The Lloyd George; policy having led Britain to the edge, of a new war In which she was al most certain to find herself alone, its author was overthrown and the Bonar Law Tory Cabinet succeeded the Lloyd George Coalition. Hard on this came the occupa-' tlon of the Ruhr, which was an In-1 evltahle consequence of the diver-! gence of British and French policy! and of the French resentment at ? Lloyd George methods. Bonar Law. j himself a dying man, had striven to i prevent the occupation, but failing i 8aw quite clearly that short of a warj with France, which was unthink-j able, nothing could be done to pro-' cure French evacuation. Britain j merely stood aside, declined to par-i tlclpate and In' the due course of. time challenged the legality of the, occupation. Baldwin succeeded to Bonar Law. I Curzon In the Foreign office strove! earnestly to get Germany to make proper peace proposals, but failed.! And the Ruhr War continued until j it ended through the collapse of Germany, after It had wrecked heri currency and shaken her economic| machine In the hopeless practice of passive resistance. Finally Ger many ifras forced to surrender un-j conditionally. Meantime the visit of Stanley Baldwin to Poincar>> in Paris had for a moment suggested ; an Improvement of Franco-British relations, hut the hope had come to nothing. I Then Baldwin went to defeat over the tariff proposal and the general ?lection which followed his appeal to the country suddenly took the control of foreign affairs out of the hands of the Tories, who had been divided between friendliness with France and opposition to the whole French program. Like all the other heirs of Lloyd George, Ramsey Mac Donald Inherited a gravely compro mised situation. When Outlook Was Dark Measured by the past record of the Labor Party and even Judged by some of his own statements, Mac Donald seemed bound almost at onco to antagonize the French. A duel between Polncare and MacDonald. even fiercer than that which had ended In the fall of Lloyd George, seemed Inescapable. But no sooner had he taken office than MacDonald turned not to Berlin but to Paris and began that series of gestures ' '"h, In the brief period of four have certainly totally trans -months, ^ -^osphere of the dls formed the fti??.. two coun. cusslons between tn?>M. tries. Now the Interesting and slgnifl-i cant fact about the MacDonald pol icy so far, was and Is the recognl-i t^on on the part of the Labor Prime Minister of the fact that France ?could not be coerced and did oe ft position from which she must, ' * ~ A??rned out by force or by be eltner vw ? persuasion Involv per?ua?lon; ana . ???.daroental, ed conceaalona to the ? a the 1 French demand*. abore all to ft., rr-noh In.l.fnco that ? ?J| taken guarantees and sanctions as ?, result of the wilful oerman default S wonld .ot relinquish them ?? til such time as she was insured i^ainsl tl?e consequences of any i.?r\v Gorman default. if. as was insistently argued by the critics of France, the French purpose was not to lake sanctious n*Min?t payment and relinquish them when payment was proffered; if it was. under cover of the present coercion, to bring about the disinte gration of Germany, the situation was always hopeless, because France! posessed the strengeth, if she had the will. She was in the Ruhr and' on the Rhine, she had the troops, the allies, everything needful, if that were her purpose. Hut the course of events since the publication of the Dawes report has served pretty thoroughly to de molish the legend of a France refus ing reparations and Beeking German destruction. The belief that Franco would reject the Dawes report was destroyed by the prompt acceptance of the report by Polncare. Hut there remains the problem of sub stituting for the French guarantee, consisting of French possession of the Ruhr Industries, actual German control and operation, without de priving France of some method of prompt redress If Germany should again break faith. Mncl>oiiitld Shows His Hand That was the precise point at which events had arrived when Mr. MaoDonald, In his York address, seemed to indicate that Great Britain would not consent to any prepar tion in advance against German de fault. This speech was interpreted In Paris as meaning that Britain would insist- that German good faith be assumed and French transfer of actual posession of German indus tries in the Ruhr should take place without any agreement In advance between the Allies as to the steps which would follow new German evasion. The York speech seemed to bring all the fat Into the fire again. But its evil effects were promptly lessened by assurances sent to Paris by Macdonald that while Britain did not wish to do anything to suggest a formal challenge of German good faith in advance, she was prepared to act and act energetically if Ger many should default. This speech was followed very closely by that in Wales, which I have already cited. Taken together with the conversa tions which attended the visit of the Belgian Premier to Chequers, It would seem quite clear that we are not menaced by any new conflict between two wholly irreconcilable policies but simply that there Is *onlng on a pretty open and frank feellng-out of positions, and that MacDonald has not the smallest in tention of undertaking to impose Britlah views without regard to French. Of course, when all Is said and done, the most Important cards re main in French hands. They do hold the Ruhr and they are exploit ing the coal and railway systems. Moreover, they maintain garrisons all through the Ruhr and the Dawes report did not suggest the with drawal of these, although It did In sist upon the return to Germany of control of the economic instruments of production. 'If French purpose1 were then to destroy Germany, she could still carry out that purpose and Justify It by the refusal of the Allies to give her adequate protec tion. But, despite the commotion to the contrary, the best Judges of French public opinion at the mo ment agree that the mass of French men are very eager to dispose of the whole burden of economic exploita tion of the Ruhr and that their sin gle concern Is to dispose of this bur den in such fashion as to insure that they shall get the reparations, In pursuit of which they originally i I marched Into the Ruhr sixteen I months ago. The French PomKIoii j If. then, the French do not desire I to stay In the Ruhr and are not 1 seeking the ruin of Germany, but are still Insistent that they shall not be turned out of the Ruhr with-, out adequate guarantees of support 1 If Germany defaults again wilfully;! and If the British recognize quite clearly that the French cannot be! I turned out, but can only be persuad-' td to retire as they are protected , against the future, it must be trans pnront that we are approaching a period of discussion which may bp friendly and must Involve frank recognition of fundamental facts on i both side, of the Channel. : * ranee will not withdraw her troops. That la understood The Dawes report could not and did not deal with thla question, nut the! mere presence of the troops need not Interfere with Oerman exploitation of her own resources, as the Oerman occupation of Eastern France well1 demonstrated after 1*71. On th~ olher hand nothing la possible tin1e??! France does agree to .urrender eco nomic control. And a. the eltua tfoff 8tn..l>?, the bargaining promises ?II to ti7"n ?'Ound thla point. You niuat then, what a com plicated aerie. 01 n?Jf?tlntlon. are to ! come now: negotla.'^?8 between Oreat Britain and France 7bleh must I be hiul and must end In agr<"*tnent before anything can come of t&4f Dawea report; and then negotia tions between the Allies and Oer many. through the Reparations fnmmlssliin. which moat cover the general reorganisation of Oerman finance and the carrying oat of tk? Dawea Report recommendations generally?the most Important of which, in certain phaaea. is the transfer from Frenceh to German hands of the Ruhr industries. But always the key to the situa tion will remain the relation be lation between Great Britain and Frame. If these two powers cannot work tcgcth-T, neither can impose its will up?*n the other and the paralysis of the past months will continue. But if this paralysis con tinues German fiscal collapse is in evitable and a similar French smash Iran hardly b?- av?-rt?-d. The col lapse of both France and Germany | financially, with all the Inevitable repercussions upon the Continental )i:ti io! .- \ ?-?V cm:-?:ju?-rc? s for !'.r:\ii::. :1I cur.-.-.l with immense un* inployment. International limits Wanted Both France and Germany want international loans. World finance and particularly American capital is presumably available at the precise moment when the political obstacles can be removed. But It Is almost axiomatic that no Arnerelcan or other money will be available for Franco or Germany until the pro posals of the Dawes Report have been accepted and translated into fact. Obviously then. France. Ger many. Britain and Belgium have large immediate stakes in the resto ration of something like order in the situation. What remains the single danger point is that there are limits beyond which no country can or will make concessions even to in sure settlement. France needs money desperately,! but she will not. merely for small | loans now?comparatively small? jepoardize her whole future prospect of collecting reparations and into the bargain expose herself to a new at-( tack from a Germany economically! restored and politically and mllltar-1 ily dangerous. Britain, by contrast.) will certainly not go beyond a fixed 1 point in giving assurances to France. ? As for Germany, she will do nothing save as she finds France and Brl-| tain agreeing In demanding her per formance. The hope in the situation lies In the fact that we are getting much nearer to realities than ever before. Germany has well-nigh wrecked her-! self by her policy of evasion and the ruin would be complete If her rejec-j tion brought, as It Inevitably would, a recurrence of the chaos which | followed the protracted struggle over the Ruhr. There must be a ! point at which Germany would pre-j fer payment to suicide. Perhaps the Dawes report marks that point. | France has gone through lllumlna-l ting experiences of her own. The crisis over the franc was signifl-1 cant. Her occupation of the Ruhr' has. doubtless, contributed to bring ing about the situation which exists.. General Dawes himself endorsed It' as an essential step toward the end \ which has now been reached. But! France realizes that she cannot col-i lect reparations by the bayonet. The! best she can do is to procure a state of mind which might lead to payment, provided the bayonets were sheathed. All Aro Wiser As for the British, it would seem that they have discovered that they cannot alone or with any available help impose their views upon the French. They would seem also to have discovered that some sort of Franco-British understanding Is the essential preliminary step to any Eu ropean adjustment. The question of how much Germany can pay an nually has been fixed, the conditions under which her finances and cur rency can be reestablished have been laid down, but underlying all else Is the inescapable fact that there must be French, British. German, even, American cooperation?even though! the last he unofficial?if anything' Is to happen of use to the world. Despite superficial evidences to the contrary in the German election, then. I believe that all European In dications now combine to encourage the belief that before the summer Is over and as a consequence of long, laborious and probably temporarily | depressing conditions, the Dawes re j port will result in some actual agreement and by the end of the i year it will be actually In operation. I And I confess I believe this quite as much because of the signs and symp toms which I saw personally in En rope as because of new circum stances and new official attitudes My conviction is that Europe speaking generally. wants peace Russia as a disturbing element Is out of the question for some time Germany Is potentially a danger and it Is manifest that the process of cooling off has gone a much shorter distance (hero than anywhere else In Western Europe. Until the Dawes report was made, the statesmen of Kuropean countries were more con cerned with the dangers Incident to ; surrendering things which were do I manded by their publics than with I bearing the responsibility for post poning or even preventing adjust ment. This was because the pub lics were, speaking generally, far more Insistent upon thir rights than they were convinced of the need o' ; sacrifice and compromise. | The familiar pictures of wicked | statesmen leading Innocent and peace loving peoples astray seems to Correct English MONTHLY MAGAZINE Authoritative of KnulMi for 22 year* Edited and founded by Josephine Turek linker Famous World Authority on Enftltn!) Semi 10 ('?n(n for Sample Topy Correct KuylUli rubtt*hlnj( Co. Evrjiston, Illlnoln AGENTS WANTED EVERYWHERE I ? v. ' > " me always to haTe been purely fan-, (attic. Actually the statesmen I could not safely undertake com-! promises while popular sentiment j remained uncompromising. Clemen-} ceau attempted it at Paris and was ', driven out of public life, denied the , presidency because he had yielded I French interests to British and American opinions. Er*berg?r anil Kathenan attempted it in Gei'tnauv j and both ?vre assassinated. One of the grave indictments lodged against Stanley Hald win in Uritain { was his alleged "softness" with France. Hriand. for his part, fell because of his apparent yielding to Lloyd George. The Weakness of Sf,utrt!i"M Th- "f si:??"si.e :? !::??? lain in th?-lr refusal to educate their publics. They have been satisfied to' let their peoples cllnu to impossible hop?*s. Hut the education ??f the publics of all nations has made re markable progress in the past year. The occupation of the Ruhr may yet turn out to have b<*en beyond debate the turning point in the post-war adjustments. b?>causo It demonstrat ed that nothing was possible; save, as there wen- profound concessions made on all sides. Mr. McDonald Is going to bargain j with Franc*-. He Is going to get an i unlimited chance for the Daw.-s re-| port program, but he Is not going to J get it for nothing. II*' is going to I get Germany into the l??agU" rf Na-I tions and he is going. Insofar as he I can. to transform toe League into a I real force In European affairs. But] along the way he will have to dis cuss inter-allied debts, Anglo-French j relations in case of new German at tacks upon France and a whole va riety of other questions. None of these questions is new, but up to j date It has never been possible to discuss any one of them usefully, be cause of the state of mind in the several countries. | In a sense MacDonald may now find himself in something of the po sition occupied by Woodrow Wilson at Paris. All things considered, ho has today the confidence of Europe to an extent enjoyed by no man since Mr. Wilson. He has a great advan tage over Mr. Wilson, due to the fact that he has spent practically a'l his mature life In Parliament and In the cloest sort of personal rela tions with men and affairs, and with Continental as well as Brltisn groups. In all the months since he took ov er the conduct of foreign affairs front Viscount Curzon at a moment when Drltlsh prestige was at the lowest point in modern times, he has made no serious mistake, and he has ac complished much. It is due to his course that the Dawes report Is now to be discussed in an atmosphere to tally different from that which has prevailed In all the recent Interna tional gatherings, not excepting the Washington Conference. Moreover, his formal and public repudiation of a policy seeking the isolation of France seems to me a turning point! in the whole discussion. . Whether the Dawes report wlll| work when put into operation, whatj the ultimate consequences may be of what Is confessedly the hugest Inter-! national economic experiment in hu-| man history, these are problems fo.* the future. But now I feel certain that It will be put into operation, following substantial Franco-British agreement, and that European skies will become clearer and clearer in the next few months. Meantime it would be hard to exaggerate the im portance of European events ani news In the period which will be cov ered by the American domestic poll tlcal campaign. .1 | SUNDAY, MAY 11TH | 19 i MOTHER'S DAY X I Mace Your Order To-day. Ryan Floral Co., Inc. PHONE 842. YOUR Lightweight Suit tdiould l?e cut and tail ored properly for the best effect. See Our Luteal Arrivals. D. Walter Harris The City Tailor and Clothier "TOST Is pure, unadulterated, rich, wholesome powdered Milk. Costs no raore than cow's mlllc, 1b ft*fer than much cow's milk that is sold. Try p can and ?("?'!! get the KLIM hft bit. M. P. GALLOP CO. Phone* 3 and 57 ' CANDY Sweet Thoughts for MOTHERS' DAY When It come* to description?the word sweetness expresses your feeling toward Mother. Delightful sweetness Is the tenn applied to our IfollinKsworth aiul X orris Candy for Mothers' Day. STANDARD PHARMACY PHONE in 1924 BUICKS lRE EQUIPPED WITH FOUR-WHEEL liRAKES and many other improvements. ASK FOR DEMONSTRATION Tidewater Buick Co. J. C. Griffin Evangelist in assist the pastor, Rev. LEROY HARRIS, in Revival Services at the Free Will Baptist Church, beginning the 19th of May. Come here and help win Souls for Jesus' sake. | Capital Stock $250,000 X Member Federal Reserve HERTFORD COLUMBIA ELIZABETH CITY X Br. A. I* Pendleton, Pre*. 3eo. R. Little, Cashier. A jumpy P. Hood, Vlce-Pres. B. O. Abbott, Vlce-Pree. % CAROLINA BANKING & TRUST COMPANY FOR SALE CHEAP Slightly used furniture almost as good as new, at HALF PRICE. On sale every day in the year. Come in and look our furniture over, wheth er you buy or not. We are life-savers to peo ple who want a lot of furniture and haven't much money. The Auction Furniture Company 120-122 NORTH I'OINDEXTER STREET, Next to 1'. DeLon's bicycle shop. E. L. SILVERTllORNE, Mgr. Better Delivery Service We have put on an automoolle delivery truck and can a? aure you that In the future your garmenta will be delivered to ynu In the beat poaalhle condition In all kinda of weather; they will be protected from the rain aa well aa the duxt and dirt. Give ua a trial and be convinced. Our slogan will oe: "Rain or Shine We Deliver on Time." PHOXK 2H?>. Cooper Cleaning Works J
The Daily Advance (Elizabeth City, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
May 10, 1924, edition 1
6
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