All, however, is not smooth for this transformation. France has
sent a most emphatic protest to Constantinople refusing to recognize the concession, as it infringes ex- clusive rights granted to French subjects by Turkey in 1914 in return for a loan of £20,000,0091 A copy of this protest has gone to Washington. The Turkish attitude is that the French agreement was never ratified by the Turkish Parliament and therefore does not bind the democratic Kemalists. Meanwhile, a Press campaign has been going on in America urging the Government to maintain the concession. The State Department seemed cautious, but it has been reported that it has instructed Mr. Child, its representative at Lausanne, to defend the concession. If this is really so, we shall certainly hear a great deal more of Dr. Chester at the resumed Lausanne Conference. What the reaction of acute Franco-American friction in the East would be on the European situation is a curious speculation.
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