IDEM GRAECE REDDITUM. Η ῥα πάλαι νεαρόν με παραιφασίαις τάδε μολπῆς Τόφρα δ' ἐγὼ στείχω χειμερίαν καθ ̓ ὁδόν. FRANCIS PEMBER. The Editor of THE NINETEENTH CENTURY cannot undertake to return unaccepted MSS. To many the problem created by the French occupation of the Ruhr Valley is one of extraordinary simplicity. They regard the matter merely as a very common example of the trouble a longsuffering creditor often experiences at the hands of a shifty and dishonest debtor. Put shortly, this explanation is as follows. The matter dates no further back than the summer of 1914, when the Germans, having decided to conquer the world, took the road to Paris in pursuance of this project. Their advance was, however, speedily held up on the banks of the Marne, but before they could be completely vanquished and disarmed four years of warfare on French soil ensued, and naturally a great deal of damage to property was done. With the knife at her throat, Germany agreed to pay for all this damage, but after four years' patient waiting she had paid nothing, although she possessed untold wealth. Chiefly to vindicate the sanctity of international agreements, France, after this exhibition of patience, occupied the small, if valuable, Ruhr Valley. Let but one of Germany's numerous millionaires serve his fatherland by writing VOL. XCIV-No. 558 153 M the necessary cheque (which so many of them could do without suffering any real inconvenience), and the French troops would instantly withdraw, and of course the problem-if so transparent a matter can really be called a problem-would be at an end. The long-suffering creditor and dishonest debtor theory certainly possesses a charming simplicity. And this characteristic is, of course, absolutely essential to any theory which is to be propounded with 'success' in the stunt or sensational Press. But, apart from this great asset, is this theory supported by the facts, or rather by any facts at all? Now the first thing to emphasise is that, as the Ruhr Valley is but a small offshoot of the great Rhine Valley, so the Ruhr question is but a small offshoot of the great Rhine question. Because the French Army is firmly planted in possession of the Rhine Valley for many years hence, theoretically as an army of occupation, this question has been allowed to drop out of sight. It will not appear prominently again before the British and American publics until these temporary grounds for the occupation disappear. The Rhine question is several centuries old at the very least. A theory, therefore, which does not go further back than 1914, is obviously defective. Not that it is easy to find a satisfactory date from which to start. German scholars invariably select the year 1681, when Louis XIV. treacherously "seized" the old Imperial city of Strassburg. From here the story flows naturally through the "bondage" of 190 years to the glorious "liberation" of this ancient German city in 1871. Most Frenchmen, on the other hand, prefer to start in the year 1871, when the French city of Strassburg was "seized " by the Germans. If, however, serious requisitions are raised as to the French title to the city prior to this date, they then go back to the Rhine frontier of the Roman province of Gaul, and triumphantly point out that Cæsar speaks of the Germans he found upon the west bank as invaders. The criticism may here be made that two distinct subjects are being muddled together under the title of the Rhine Question. France, it may be said, has a perfect title to Strassburg and the country to the south of it, but not a shadow of a title to the Palatinate and the territory to the north-west. It is the misfortune of Europe that this distinction cannot be made. If France seizes Cologne now she will have as good a title to it in the year 2165 as she now has to Strassburg. The steady process of pushing France's frontiers eastward has been going on for centuries. Why should a halt be called at this particular date? But, apart from all barren and academical discussions as to the " rights" of the case, it is a matter of history that the French have for centuries claimed that the true eastern frontier of France is |