The Belgian Reply to the British Note of August 11th
was published in the papers of Wednesday. The Belgian Government believe that by what they call "discreet conversations between Allied Ministers" an under- standing between France and Great Britain could be reached. Belgium, though following, of necessity perhaps, iu the orbit of France, has continually tried to play the part of mediator, and we are grateful for the noticeable friendliness and courtesy of the language in which the Belgian Note is written. All the same, we are bound to say that it does not help us, for it leaves the problem as it was. It supports France in defending the legality of the occupation of the Ruhr and promises withdrawal when Germany pays. Such a promise has little practical meaning, and certainly none that is immediate, for, as the payments demanded by France would cover well over thirty years, a new generation would have grown up by the time withdrawal became due. By then the situation might have become so stereotyped, as usually happens in such cases, that withdrawal would be said to be impossible.
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