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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 25, 1923)
Trance Doubling Stakes-Ex-Premier Invaders of Ruhr Adopt New Policy N " I Lloyd George Protests W isdom of Attempt to Starve Ger many Into Surrender by Siege. -— Sees Disaster in Result — BY THE RIGHT HONOR Mil.E DAY1D 1,1,0YD GEORGE. O. M., M. P. (Former llrltlnh Premier) Copyright, IMS, by Inited Feature Syndicate. Copyright tn Great Britain by tendon C hronlrle. Copyright In Australasia by Australian Press Association. Kirluslrn Umlil Right* Held by Cnltcd Feature Syndicate. Reprodurtlnn In Whole ar In Part Pro hibited. All Right* Renerved. London, February .’4.—The French government, having conspicuously failed to win its anticipated coup, is doubling the stakes each time it loses. When w ill it- end and where will it end? It is still gambling with human passions. They are all engaged in this wild venture—on both sides of the table. Pride, greed, vanity, ob s ti nancy, temper, combativeness, racial antagonisms: hut also patriot ism, love of wrong and high courage. Kach side draws from the same treasury of fiery human emotions. 1 ynless someone steps in to induce a halt I fear the result will he devastat- | ing. France has now abandoned all hope of being able to run the mines, rail ways and workshops of the Ruhr by military agencies. In these days you y cannot stioot every worker who fails to excavate so many hundredweights of coal per diem, or who refuses to fill a wagon or drive a locomotive w hen and by whomsoever he is told to do so. She cannot -provide the necessary complement of miners and lailwaymen from outside to fill the vacancies created by sulky workers. And even if she could it would take many months ere they become suf ficiently accustomed to their new conditions to work without peril to themselves. New Policy. So a new policy has been impro vised. It is nothing lees than a siege of Germany. Sixty millions of Ger mans are to be starved into surrender. That's a long business, as everyone knows who has been engaged on the difficult operations of strike break ing. We have often witnessed work ers, with little support or sympathy from the rest of the community, hold out for weeks after their funds have been exhausted. Jn Germany all classes are united in resistance. The national pride fortifies endurance and incites to sacrifice, and the ports are still open. Meanwhile incidents may happen, developments may occur which will create a situation that will baffle all the resources the invaders can command. It Is very little use jobbing back ward. But there are many who are disposed to say that invasion of the Ruhr was bound to come and the sooner the safer. The Ruhr coal Latest Picture of Ex-Premier and Wife hbbw..«. . rrnrwtiiiwwiw'■wtiwy.a m ■ - w ■ ■•»•- - • • - The former premier made n brilliant speech In the house of commons Monday and appealed for American aid in settling the difficulties between France and Germany. The government was sustained, however. The picture, which is the most recent one of the former premier and his wife to reach the I'nlted States, shows them upon their arrival in Paddington, l.nndon, Fngland, after (heir holiday in Spain. mines were the wild oats of repara tion. Get it over quickly. The head ache will bring repentance and France will then settle down to quiet life. That's the argument. French Opinion Changes. I must enter emphatic protest against this view. If this ill judged enterprise had been put off for a few more months I do not believe any French government would have em barked upon it. There is no French statesman of any standing who in his heart believes In its wisdom. Now that the credit of France is involved in its success they will all support it. But French opinion as a whole was moving with startling rapidity from this policy. The Parisian pulse was still feverish, but the provinces had completely calmei\ down. Vacancies occurring in the senate and the cham ber of deputies during several months have afforded an opportunity for test ing real Frencli opinion, and the re sults have been sensational. Shrink From Bloodshed. Driving through the villages in ag ricultural France" you find yourself asking "where are the ypung men?" The answer invariably comes "This village suffered severely in the war." You will receive the same answer in the next village and the next. We can not wonder, therefore, that byelec tions in rural as wGl as in urban Frame display unmistakable weari ness of plans which involve the marching of armed Frenchmen into hostile territory. The sorrowing peo ple of Franco havp good reason to shrink from any course of action that leads to further shedding of blood. That Is why 1 have steadily favored every scheme that hj»d the effect of postponing a decision as to the Uuhr. Delay meant ultimate defeat for tlie Chauvinists. That is why they strove so hard to rush their government into this precipitate action. The abrupt termination of the Paris conference was (heir opportunity and they seized It with tingling fingers. Until then there had never been a clean break ! on which violence could tie founded Friends of moderation both here Rnd on the continent had seen to that. ' There had been references of ques tions for the scrutiny of experts snd calming adjournments to await their report. When It arrived there were endless suggestions and countfrsug geations to meet difficulties. In the end Europe was saved from the catas trophe of once more handing Its des tinies to the guidance of blind force. Proposal Rejected. Unhappily, weariness or Impatience Induced the Paris negotiators In s few hours to drop the reins which had for the last four years held the furies from dashing along their career of destruction. There were many alternative plans that might have been discussed. There was a proposal to refer the whole question to the league of nations. It 1r true that when I suggested it In August last M. Poin care summarily rejected it. P.ut the allies also rejected Poincare's propo sals by a majority of four to one at that conference. That did not preVent his repeating tin m In January—and this time he succeeded in winning over a majority lo his view. A little more persistence , and less pessimism might have per suaded Belgium, Italy and Japan to aid our apiieals to France to trust rather to the league of nations than to the uncertainties of war. What is still more Inexplicable is the failure ' of the conference to take any note 'of Mr. Secretary Hughes’ New Haven speech. Neglected opportunities litter the path of this troublesome question. ! There were the Cannes conversations broken off Just as they were reach i ing fruition. Had they been continued ' another week they would have ended | lr. a helpful settlement which would Hue Service *,Mnywhere r -Jmfmnef For Every Car and TruckDriver * This is service that hundreds of Omaha and Douglas County car and truck drivers are al ready familiar with. We want people who con template purchasing new cars to know just what we mean when we say—free tire service. It means this—no matter what kind of tires you have on your car you may count on us for tire service, wdthout a penny of cost, anywhere you’re stalled—at anytime. This is a new era in the tire service world. We come closer each day to giving customers 100% efficiency in keeping their tires up in condition and running. It is unprecedented! But Sprague wants to lead. Be it a tire change, mounting your spare, bringing air, inspecting tires or examining rims, it costa you nothing. FREE TIRE SERVICE. Just remember what we offer you and call the next time the old tire goes flat. I n the meantime keep smiling. New GUARANTEED TIRES $C95 J and ap Besides free service, open to / all tire users, Sprague tires give .Sprague tire user* uniform mile age day after duy. Why pay high prices for tirea when you can huy a guar anteed tire, any si7.c, plain or non-skid, for $5.95 up This price is made pos sible by shrewd buying of rawf materials, quanti ty production, selling di rect from our factory to you and a smaller profit on each tire. Next time let’s put a SPRAGUE on your car. have brought reparation* to France, confidence to Germany and peace to Europe. They struck on one of many eunken reefs which bestrew French political seas, and 1J will ndt surprise me to find that the whole cargo of reparations disappeared than beyond salvage into the deep with these ship wrecked negotiations. Opportunity Thrown Away. Again Germany threw away a great opportunity at Genoa when all the nations of Europe came together for the first time to discuss their troubles in a spirit of equality and amity. It Is -true reparations were excluded at the instance of France from the pro gram of the conference. Hut the spirit engendered by a friendly settle ment of all other outstanding ques tlcn% would have rendered a reason able and temperate consideration of reparations Inevitable. Germany, by the foolish staging of its Russian agreement, made all that Impossible. Resentment and suspicion were once more equipped with a lash, and they used it relentlessly to drive out all good will for Germany from the purlieus of that great congress. An other lost opportunity. Then there was the bankers' com mittee appointed to consider the ques tion of raising an international loan to help France finance the repair of her devastated area, and also to assist Germany restore her demora lized currency. I remember how eag er poor Rathenau was to float that loan, and "how sanguine he was It would succeed. He was confident that German nationals who Have Invested their gold in other land* could be in duced to subscribe heavily to the loan. The bankers concerned—all were of the highest reputation in the fi nanclal world—were confident that if German reparations were fixed at a reasonable sum. investors throughout the world would gladly put their money into a great Inter national loan which would help to re store Europe. The French govern ment testily declined to consider the essential conditions indicated by th#« bankers. liUEhea’ Offer Overlooked. Another lost opportunity, and Eu rope once more lumbered along lta dreary way to seek another. It came with Mr. Hughes’ famous speech. It was clearly the result of prolonged consiffcratlon. For weeks there ha/1 been rumors of much consultation In Washington on the state of Europe, and we were encouraged to hope that America meant business. The result was Mr. Secretary Hughes’ offer. It was made four days before the Parts conference, and was obviously Intended to be discussed by the allies there. An endeavor has been made to minimize the Importance of this Amer ican approach to Euretpe. But it Is Incomprehensible to me how so mo mentous a pronouncement has been treated as if it were merely the cas ual utterance of a politician who ant in every land always moves slow ly. But there can be no doubt that the French peasant has had enough of military adventures. His sons were never numbered amongst the "exempts" and the losses In the peas ant homes of France were appalling. Another opportunity lost—perhaps ^he greatest—perhaps the last. Never has luck striven ao hard to save stu pidity. Rut luck loses Its temper eas lly, snd then It is apt to hit hard. Buick Business Booming Baick Modal 23 • Six ■ 50 „ 0 H. Pelton, local Buick dealer, state* that tha Buick business tor spring delivery is shaping itself rapidly and, judging from indications now, he will do a large business this spring. "We have 25 closed cars in storage now," said Mr. Pelton. "and have a full line of care on our floor at OUT sales rooms. Every day more people are becoming convinced of the ster ling worth of Bui«fc car*.” Mr. Pelton will be represented at the automobile show and will sbars the exhibit with the Nebraska Buick ^ Auto company. I America Must Look to Car Market in Scandinavia "American automobile manufac turer's will have to look out for their market in Scandinavia and north Eu- 1 rope," says Axel Akerman, special commissioner of the international au tomobile exhibition In Gothenburg, Sweden, May 9 to July 9, 1923. The show is part of tlfc Gothenburg Jubi lee exposition, which is planned to ! be the greatest fair ever held in Scandinavia. "There is a big market in Sweden for medium and low priced American cars, ' Mr, Ackerman says. "They are generally preferred to the heavy Eu ropean types. Touring the latter part of 1922, however, the European mak ers have pushed their cars system atically. and are gaining in favor be cause their new cars are better suit *d to the Kw«-dish roads than former ly. “In Pweden low gasoline consump tion is of great importance, and many of the leading fciurop^an manufactur ers hav* come far In this respect. Near Motor Car Accident Turns Woman's Hair White To what extent are automobiles re sponsible for prematurely white hair? \ 1’ar.H has just been hearing of an au thenticated case of a lady who nar row! y escaped being run over by f car and was bo frightened that sh fell in a faint. On being revived aT taken to her home, several locks her hair had turned quite white. A total of 23.733 Immigrants from the United States entered Canada last year, with cash and effects val ued at *9.544.027. Nebraska Buick Auto Co. LINCOLN i H. E. SMIm, Prn OMAHA Lm Huff, V. frl. SIOUX CITY 1 H R. Mgr. J % teGu*27“
