This week will see the meeting of the British and French leaders in Paris to con-for on matters of extreme importance, and it is hoped that far-reaching decisions will be made which will have a favourable effect upon the further development of peace moves. One of the most important matters will involve investigation into the possibility of securing a "no war" declaration by France and Germany along the lines of that signed by Mr. Chamberlain and Herr Hitler at Munich. On the value of the Anglo-German declaration recent events have cast some doubt, for speeches of the German leaders and articles in the German Press suggest that much will have to alter before that interesting document becomes anything more than a meaningless piece of paper. Obviously there is ground for thinking that in some quarters in Germany the impression prevails that the only contributions to be made in the cause of peace must come from the democratic states, for up to the present there is little to show that Germany is willing to go half way towards a betterment which is so earnestly desired. That as well veral other factors will serve to embarrass conversations which are to take pli week between the British and French Prime Ministers, but a Franco-German declaration similar to the Anglo-German seems to be the most desirable step to be taken immediately for the purpose of advancing Mr. Chamberlain's plan for general appeasement. The French leaders, it is reported, have been earnestly working towards this end, though the matter has been complicated because of Berlin's insistence that the French Pres should be partially gagged. The French Government was prepared to go as far as issuing a decree enabling legal action to be taken against that section of the press guilty of publishing comment offensive to the heads of state, but even this proposition has met with so much opposition that the Government is at present reluctant to go any further with the scheme. The difficulty is to find a dividing between what the heads of neighbouring states will find offensive and what they will not, for the border-line between fair and unfair criticism is exceptionally narrow in their eyes.
One of the most important aspects of this week's meeting is this renewed demonstration of the solidarity of Anglo-French relations. There have of late been noticed very definite attempts on the parts of some leaders to drive a wedge between the two countries.
They have met with no success. It is unbelievable, having in memory the perils which the two nations have faced in the past and may be called upon to face in the future, that there should be any rift in their friendship, for even if there were any real sentiment in favour of such a thing—and there is certainly little, if any—common interests require that the two nations should remain as close together now as they have been in the past. It would be contrary to good sense and proper feeling for there to be any wide gap between the two countries now, and the meeting this week may be accepted as a re-enunciation of that amity which was emphasized by the recent visit of the' King and Queen to Paris. There is a large number of questions to be discussed,—economic appeasement of Europe, Far Eastern matters, joint military, naval and air strategy in the light of the situation created by the Munich Agreement, the general question of French armaments and French anxiety concerning the safety of her communications with her north African colonies. In this connection a betterment of Franco-Italian relations seems eminently desirable. The removal of restrictions ea touring between the two countries, and the recent appointment of Amba: sadors shows that some improvement has been effected in the relations between the two countr but there is still very much room for more. The opinion of observers in Paris that while both Berlin and Rome are ready to respond to Mr. Chamberlain's overtures, it is dependent upon the disruption of the traditional Anglo-French friendship is something whith has to be taken into account. It is a condition which cannot be satisfied, and the only real appeasement which is likely to prove of permanent value is one based upon the realization that such a rupture is as unnecessary as it is unlikely.
The attitude of Great Britain and France towards developments in the Far East is naturally a matter of the greatest importance to their respective nationals in this portion of the world. The adoption of parallel policies as indicated by the presentation of similar Notes to Tokyo on the subject of the reopening of the Yangtze is a step which needs to be followed up. Between the two nations there is a very important community of interests, and the problems which Japanese action in China poses for the one have similarly to be dealt with by the other. In this connection it is not to be expected that rapid decisions will be reached in Paris. The ground needs most carefully to be explored before each successive step is taken, and while the situation calls for very considerable caution, it is not to be believed for one moment that either country will abandon its interests in this part of the world, or even fail to take adequate steps for their protection. Formidable as the Rome-Berlin-Tokyo axis appears to be, it is not without its weak points, not the least of which is its artificipality arising from the fact that the interests of Germany and Italy in the Far East are not common with those of Japan. This is clearly demonstrated by the damage to the growing trade which Germany had with China that has arisen out of political exigences created by this tri-partite understanding. What appears to be a political solidarity is weakened by the fact that the economic interests of the two European Powers are just as much at variance with those of Japan, as those of other nationals who are similarly suffering from the latter's unjustifiable actions in China. It has to be admitted that at the moment the common aims of the parties to the axis would look all the brighter if it were possible to separate the democracies. Fortunately the trend of events is to bind them closer together, and in the political resources which they have at their disposal is to be found the greatest justification for the belief that, in the event, they will emerge from this h present gloom much stronger than pessimists believe.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.