A short debate which has just taken place in the Chamber of Deputies throws a strong light on the instability of European peace. The Government brought in a Bill giving permission to lend Rumania Frs. 100,000,000, and it was clearly stated that the whole of this money will be spent en armaments. The Rumanian Government evidently believes that sooner or later its territory will be attacked by the Red army, and having no money of its own, it is borrowing from France, the pillar of the Little Entente. We have heard enough about the financial position of France to feel sure that such a loan would not be made unless those in authority felt there was strong reason for helping Rumania to keep the Reds out. Sooner or later the Bolsheviks will have to admit their failure to carry on a peaceful and civilized system of government, and then their only resource will be to prey upon their neighbours. France has already advanced Frs. 600,000,000 to Poland, and one of these days she will probably be called upon to help the Yugo-Slavs. These subsidies are evidently looked upon as an indispensable form of insurance. The loan to Rumania was, of course, opposed by Socialist members of the Chamber, but the Bill was voted by a majority of nearly four to one.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.