10 JANUARY 1925, Page 2

The real reasons why we stay on at Cologne are

that we cannot leave the French who occupy the Ruhr suspended in mid air, and that we defer too gently, as we think, to the French theory of how she can obtain security. Her theory is that Germany must be held down in order that France may be safe. The British theory is that France and every other country in Europe will be unsafe as long as a war-spirit is thus encouraged. There is now an opportunity and an urgent necessity for a compromise. We ought to aim quite definitely at withdrawal within the next few months and at the latest by August.