France and Disarmament The Disarmament Conference can do little while
France remains without a government. It might in some respects be better if it halted altogether, for the arguments of the experts as to what are primarily aggres- sive weapons are doing much more harm than good. The Treaty of Versailles came near settling that question once for all when it catalogued the weapons that Germany must not possess specifically on account of their aggressive quality. Governments of other countries may, or may not, be prepared to accept the qualitative limitations imposed on Germany. If so the right course is to say so, not to set the experts to whittle away the German list, particularly since they are by implication whittling away at the same time the whole basis of the disarmament clauses of the Treaty of Versailles. The most important event of the week has been a speech at Dijon by M. Paul Boncour, in which he once more linked disarmament and security guarantees inseparably, but went so far as to suggest that perhaps sufficient security did already exist to make a first instalment of reduction practicable. For that he has been privately taken to task by M. Tardieu, who is still acting as Prime Minister. If France cannot go the modest length M. Paul Boncour suggests the out- look for the Disarmament Conference is dark.
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