Le Petit Matin
- Foreign Policy
- THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR COLONIES
- Toward Dictatorship in Poland
Le Petit Matin’s September 29, 1926 selections connected European diplomacy with arguments about how governments should act. Henry Barde urged France and Germany to turn reconciliation into practical agreements, linking early evacuation of the Rhineland and Saar and French finances to industrial cooperation. The colonial column attacked Poincaré’s speeches and neglect of Sarraut’s development proposals, demanding better equipment for the colonies. Dispatches from Warsaw and Berlin described uncertainty over Bartel’s reconstructed cabinet and reported a threat attributed to Piłsudski to govern without parliament.
Translation
Foreign Policy
By Henry BARDE
Verbal jousting does nothing to advance Franco-German rapprochement.
Mr. Stresemann was wrong to start a debate at the Gambrinus beer hall in Geneva over responsibility for the war, a subject he had nevertheless carefully excluded from his address on entering the League of Nations.
Mr. Poincaré has already answered him twice; once would have been enough.
Two peoples do not draw closer through polemics.
Mr. Stresemann has his nationalists, just as France has hers.
Let us not allow Imperial Germany’s immediate and overwhelming responsibility for the war to be overlooked, especially since the Treaty of Versailles rests legally on the notion of the Reich’s guilt; but neither should we allow the conversations begun at Thoiry by Mr. Briand and Mr. Stresemann, endorsed by the cabinets in Berlin and Paris, and on which France and Europe, and North Africa too, pin their hopes for peace and the forgetting of past grievances, to degenerate into bitter personal disputes.
Within the framework of the Treaty of Versailles, and without undermining any part of it, France and Germany can negotiate the early evacuation of the Rhineland and the Saar, which could, for the present, bring eleven billion paper francs into the French budget; but that could only be a preface to the work to be accomplished, something like a gesture of conciliation.
The real problem is to make Franco-German reconciliation the path to European peace. This reconciliation can and must take the form of clearly defined contracts.
French and German potash producers have reached an agreement. Will French and German steel producers do the same? Will Lorraine’s iron and the Ruhr’s coal work together?
If so, France and Germany are saved; if not, Europe faces the gravest of dangers.
All this will entail long and complex negotiations, but political leaders must lead the technical experts forward, rouse them, and inspire them with the determination to succeed.
For even as we work more carefully on the details, we must not lose sight of the goal and the whole.
HENRY BARDE.
On the occasion of his return, Sultan Moulay Youssef
THE DEVELOPMENT OF OUR COLONIES
[?] moreover, that the tone of the Oran speech differs greatly from the speeches Mr. Poincaré was still making two years ago, and that he now acknowledges the merits of a new Germany.
PARIS, September 25.—From our parliamentary correspondent.
When Mr. Albert Sarraut was Minister of the Colonies under Mr. Poincaré, I believe he took the trouble to draw up a lengthy report, an entire plan for developing our colonies.
In those happy days, Mr. Poincaré was optimistic. He asked nothing of his ministers except that they remain silent and admire him, it being understood that each week he would speak on behalf of the Government in cemeteries, doubtless so that no one would contradict him.
When, after three years, Mr. Sarraut had to leave the ministry to make room for new friends of his dear chief, none of the colonial reforms he had proposed had been taken into consideration. The colonies continued to supply nothing.
Mr. Poincaré continues to make speeches. We shall learn, once again, that our colonies stand ready to supply everything we lack and that Germany unjustly declared war on us, for Mr. Poincaré does not forgive. In our view, it would be better to argue a little less about that past and concern ourselves not only with the future, but with the present.
We could find many lessons in [?] Mr. Sarraut’s voluminous report. We could see there that our colonies deserve not only to be better known, but also to be better equipped.
Toward Dictatorship in Poland
“If the majority brings you down, I shall dissolve the Diet, and we shall govern without it.”
Piłsudski to Mr. Bartel
WARSAW, September 28.—The political situation would be more or less normal, with the Bartel cabinet reconstituted and due to appear before the chambers on Thursday, if it were also certain that the Polish Chamber would give its confidence to the newly formed Bartel cabinet.
So far, however, that cannot be asserted, given the uncertainty prevailing in Polish domestic politics.
Some circles claim that, if the Chamber refuses to give Mr. Bartel its confidence, Marshal Piłsudski would contemplate dissolving it and establishing in Poland a kind of dictatorship fairly similar to the one currently prevailing in Italy.
* * *
BERLIN, September 28.—Marshal Piłsudski is reported to have told Prime Minister Bartel:
“Appear before the Diet again with the same colleagues, and if the majority brings you down, I shall dissolve the Diet and we shall govern without it.”
For the record for the longest distance flown nonstop
A new attempt
Context
Thoiry linked territorial concessions to French financial needs
The September 17, 1926 meeting explored a bargain: Briand offered the return of the Saar and an end to Rhineland occupation in exchange for German economic assistance. Advance reparations and an early German repurchase of the Saar coal mines were considered. This explains Barde’s connection between evacuation and French budget receipts, although his eleven-billion-franc estimate remains the column’s figure. He then advances his larger argument: potash agreements and prospective steel cooperation should make reconciliation durable. The diplomatic bargain ultimately failed over financial arrangements and political resistance; Barde was advocating possibilities that he still presented as open. [Historical analysis published by the German Federal Agency for Civic Education](https://www.bpb.de/shop/zeitschriften/apuz/268358/gustav-stresemann-und-die-perspektive-der-anderen/).
Sarraut’s programme gave the colonial criticism a practical target
The likely referent is Sarraut’s broad development programme presented to the Chamber in April 1921 and elaborated in his 1923 book, La mise en valeur des colonies françaises. It envisaged substantial metropolitan effort, specialized colonial production serving French needs, and systematic scientific assistance. That agenda gives substance to the column’s demand for better equipment: its argument concerns how to make the colonies supply France. Colrat’s charge is political: Poincaré allegedly neglected the proposals and displaced Sarraut to accommodate new allies while substituting speeches for action. The contrast between a detailed programme and repeated speeches makes governmental inaction the central target of the satire. [IRD-hosted historical study](https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/pleins_textes_2/etudes_theses/35083.pdf), [Sarraut’s 1923 book](https://books.google.com/books?id=7RTUAAAAMAAJ).
Bartel’s return followed a parliamentary attack on two ministers
The immediate crisis concerned Interior Minister Kazimierz Młodzianowski and Minister of Religious Affairs and Public Education Antoni Sujkowski, whom the parliamentary right accused of excessive concessions to national minorities. The Sejm passed no-confidence votes against both on September 24, 1926. Bartel’s second cabinet ended that day. His third took office on September 27 and would end on September 30, the day after this newspaper appeared. The report thus falls within a brief attempt to restore a government after parliamentary defeat. Its attributed threat made this confrontation a question of whether parliamentary opposition would still constrain executive power. The Warsaw dispatch presents dictatorship conditionally, while the Berlin dispatch reports words allegedly spoken to Bartel. [Institute of National Remembrance biography](https://ipn.gov.pl/download/1/888972/Bartelbroszurainternet.pdf), [Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe](https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781317475941_A27151198/preview-9781317475941_A27151198.pdf).
Original
La politique extérieure
La politique extérieure par Henry BARDE Les tournois oratoires ne servent pas le rapprochement franco-allemand. M. Stresemann eut le tort de nouer un débat à la Brasserie Gambrinus, de Genève, sur les responsabilités de la guerre, qu'il avait soigneusement proscrit pourtant de son discours d'entrée à la Société des Nations. M. Poincaré lui a déjà répondu deux fois; c'était assez d'une. Deux peuples ne se rapprochent pas par des polémiques. M. Stresemann a ses nationalistes, si la France a les siens. Ne laissons pas méconnaître les responsabilités immédiates et écrasantes de l'Allemagne impériale dans la guerre, d'autant que le traité de Versailles est juridiquement fondé sur la notion de la culpabilité du Reich; mais ne laissons pas non plus tourner en d'aigres controverses personnelles les conversations que MM. Briand et Stresemann ont engagées à Thoiry, qui ont été sanctionnées par les Cabinets de Berlin et de Paris, et dont la France et l'Europe, et l'Afrique du Nord aussi, espèrent la paix et l'oubli. Dans le cadre du traité de Versailles, et sans rien ruiner de celui-ci, la France et l'Allemagne peuvent négocier l'évacuation anticipée de la Rhénanie et de la Sarre qui, pour le présent, pourrait rapporter onze milliards de francs-papier au budget français; mais ce ne saurait être là qu'une préface de l'œuvre à accomplir, et comme un geste propitiatoire. Le véritable problème est de faire de la conciliation franco-allemande le sentier de la paix européenne. Cette conciliation peut et doit se traduire en des contrats bien définis. Industriels français et allemands de la potasse se sont entendus. Industriels français et allemands de l'acier s'entendront-ils? Le fer de Lorraine et le charbon de la Ruhr collaboreront-ils? Si oui, la France et l'Allemagne sont sauvées, sinon, l'Europe est menacée du plus grand des périls. Tout ceci nous vaudra des négociations longues et complexes, mais les hommes politiques doivent entraîner et soulever les techniciens et leur inspirer la volonté d'aboutir. Car pour travailler plus soigneusement le détail, on ne saurait ici perdre de vue le but et l'ensemble. HENRY BARDE. A l'occasion de son retour le sultan Moulay Youssef
L'EXPLOITATION DE NOS COLONIES
[?] au surplus que le ton du discours d'Oran se différencie beaucoup des discours prononcés il y a deux ans encore par M. Poincaré, que celui-ci reconnaît aujourd'hui l'excellence d'une Allemagne nouvelle. L'EXPLOITATION DE NOS COLONIES PARIS, 25 septembre. - (De notre rédacteur parlementaire). Lorsque M. Albert Sarraut était ministre des Colonies avec M. Poincaré, je crois qu'il avait pris la peine d'établir un long rapport tout un projet d'exploitation de nos colonies. A cette époque heureuse, M. Poincaré était optimiste. Il ne demandait rien à ses ministres que de se taire et de l'admirer, étant entendu que chaque semaine il parlerait au nom du Gouvernement dans les cimetières, sans doute pour n'être point contredit. Quand au bout de trois ans M. Sarraut dut quitter le ministère pour céder sa place à de nouveaux amis de son cher patron, aucune des réformes coloniales qu'il avait proposées n'avait été prise en considération. Les colonies continuaient à ne rien fournir. M. Poincaré continue à discourir. Nous saurons, une fois de plus, que nos colonies sont prêtes à fournir tout ce qui nous manque et que l'Allemagne nous a injustement déclaré la guerre, car M. Poincaré ne pardonne pas. Mieux vaudrait à notre avis discuter un peu moins sur ce passé et se préoccuper non seulement de l'avenir, mais du présent. Nous pourrions trouver dans [?] volumineux rapport de M. Sarraut de nombreux enseignements. Nous y pourrions voir que nos colonies méritent non seulement d'être mieux connues, mais encore d'être mieux outillées.
Vers la dictature en Pologne
Vers la dictature en Pologne «Si la majorité vous renverse, je dissoudrai la Diète, et nous gouvernerons sans elle». Pilsudski à M. Bartel VARSOVIE, 28 septembre. - La situation politique serait à peu près normale, le Cabinet Bartel s'étant reconstitué et devant paraître jeudi devant les Chambres, si l'on était d'autre part certain que la Chambre Polonaise donnera confiance au Cabinet Bartel constitué. Or, jusqu'à présent on ne saurait l'affirmer en raison de l'incertitude qui règne dans la politique intérieure polonaise. On assure dans certains milieux que si la Chambre refuse d'accorder sa confiance à M. Bartel, le maréchal Pilsudski songerait à la dissoudre et à instituer en Pologne une sorte de dictature assez analogue à celle qui règne actuellement en Italie. * * * BERLIN, 28 septembre. - On annonce que le maréchal Pilsudski aurait dit au Premier Ministre Bartel: «Représentez-vous devant la Diète avec les mêmes collaborateurs, et si la majorité vous renverse, je dissoudrai la Diète et nous gouvernerons sans elle». Pour le record de la plus longue distance en avion sans escale Une nouvelle tentative