24 FEBRUARY 1923, Page 12

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Stn,—In your comments on

the action of France in Germany, you say that the French Government are the " dupes of terror " and that they fear the Germans so much that they dread the economic recovery of Germany. Surely, if the statements in Mr. Owen Wister's book, Neighbours Henceforth, are true, the French have seen a very substantial " economic recovery " in Germany and any payment of the just reparation due to them as far off as ever. Mr. Wister says : " The industrial leaders in Germany are known to have on deposit at home and abroad securities worth one billion dollars," and the large industrial corporations are paying dividends which in some cases have increased from 8 to 60 per cent. Can anyone be surprised that the patience of the French is exhausted ?-