NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE most important event of the week has been the discussion whether the Entente between France and Britain should be enlarged and developed into a formal Alliance. That discussion has proved most useful, for it has made it clear that the wiser minds in both countries are of opinion that it is by no means necessary to change the basis of the understanding. When the King spoke of the Entente becoming permanent he placed the matter on the right footing. All that the two countries wish to do, and are determined to do, is to preserve the peace of the world by resisting attacks upon it. The word " Alliance " might seem to suggest something aggressive, whereas what is meant is the very reverse of aggression. A permanent Entente therefore exactly expresses the situation. M. Pichon, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, in a statement made to Reuter's representative, published in the papers on Friday, spoke, we are sure, the truth when he declared that 'the Entente had definitely entered into the policy of the two countries as one of the fundamental bases of that policy." It is hardly necessary to add that the Entente menaces no neighbouring Power. The notion that it is intended to isolate Germany will not bear examination for a moment. If, as Germany assures us, and as we trust and believe is the case, she has no desire to attack any of her neighbours, the Entente has no hostile meaning for her whatever, and it may justly be said that from her point of view it will be invisible.
