We tell France that the peace of the world cannot be definitely disturbed for the sake of satisfying the extreme demands of one nation. We express our belief that France’s apprehensions are exaggerated. We warn the French that indeterminate detention of the Rhine provinces will create a new Alsace-Lorraine and lead to another war. We repudiate the thesis of French nationalists, that the only safe frontier for their country is the Rhine. We wonder why there are no statesmen and publicists in France to oppose the propaganda of militarists, imperialists, and extremists. Such statesmen do exist. Briand, Painlevé, and Caillaux see France’s future in peaceful coöperation with Germany. With rare exceptions French publicists are agreed that a Napoleonic _épopée_ cannot be repeated without ending in a disaster greater than that of a century ago. The French are sick of war, and the internal reaction to the Ruhr occupation shows that they are not in the mood to be led into military ventures. But they do not purpose to let pass the unique opportunity of assuring their safety by their own efforts, seeing that they have been deserted by their comrades in arms. In coping with this state of mind, British and American words must no longer be contradicted by British and American deeds. To meet the French argument of the Rhine as a strategic frontier, Great Britain and the United States signed a supplementary treaty on the day the Treaty of Versailles was signed, promising to aid France in case of a new German aggression. This treaty was not ratified. London and Washington alike, while assuring Paris that the thought of a new German aggression was absurd, were unwilling to commit themselves to aid France automatically in case of a German attack. Since we acted thus, had we the right to remonstrate with France when she took the steps that she thought were necessary to protect herself? If we were as sure ourselves as we tried to make France sure that Germany would not attack again, why did we not give France the guaranty? It would have cost us nothing, and, since we were sure that Germany was going to be good, it would not have involved us. The French are more logical, more reasonable, than we are. They realize that we never believed what we said about Germany’s intentions in the future, else we should have given the guarantee.