We trust, that the German Government will not be too
greatly influenced by the reactionaries who oppose their country's entry into the League of Nations, and that they will be guilty of no tactless boggling which will embarrass those who wish them well. We feel, how- ever, that the Allies should favourably consider the German plea for a reduction of the number of troops in the Rhineland. We see no strict relevancy in the German claim that the garrison should equal the pre-War German garrison. On the other hand, we do not think that the dicta of the Ambassadors' Conference need be carried out to the letter since Locarno. It is not in harmony with the present spirit, nor is it reasonable that the evacuation of the Cologne zone should result in an un- diminished garrison being packed into the reduced Occupied Area. We do not believe that our War Office wishes it, and we trust that the French will be amenable. The number of British troops moving to Wiesbaden is given as 8,000. This may be their number "on paper," but we doubt there being so many British effectives. The Rhine Flotilla has left the area, and is making its way by river and canal to the French coast, thus ending a unique seven-years' Odyssey of the White Ensign.
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