3 SEPTEMBER 1927, Page 2

The troops in the Rhineland are not numerous enough to

hold Germany down or to prevent her from rearming. In military values they are really only a provocation. The pledge for the Dawes Scheme of Reparations is, of course, another matter altogether, but a greatly reduced army would be an adequate symbol for that purpose. We are sorry to say that the British Government have expressed contentment with the reduction of the occupying forces by only 10,000 men. The force will remain international. France will withdraw about 8,000 men and Great Britain and Belgium about 1,000 each from their much smaller forces. The Paris correspondent of the Times says that the total numbers occupying the second and third Rhineland zones will now be about 60,000. * * *