IN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT

Bonar Law's offer to release France from her debts is the first sign of a clearing in the much muddled "general European condition." Oil stains from the quarrel about Turkish concessions, France's obstinacy in regard to the German reparations, the secret connivings between Turkey and the unofficial Russian delegates, the loud shouting by Ismet Pasha for Thrace and the abandonment of the Capitulations, and Lord Curzon's John Bull-headed inflexibility as regards the Bosphorus have all contributed to stirring up the pool at Lausanne until it has become almost impossible to see the bottom.

Profound believers in Santa Claus may possibly attribute Bonar Law's surprising generosity to the approach of Christmas. His real reasons, however, are certainly not altruistic. First of all the offer is accompanied by the hitch that France content herself with a reparation of only fifteen to twenty billion marks, a decided fall from per present demand. England is tired watching the mark coast downhill; she wants to establish trade again with Germany under conditions more certain and less fluctuating and sporadic than they are now. Facing dangerous possibilities of the complete diplomatic face-about in Black Sea affairs,--Turkey's alliance with the arch enemy Russia,--England finds that her friendship with France needs a touch of cement to cover over the cracks left by Lloyd-George recent experiments in Asia Minor.

France, on her side, loses little in accepting Bonar Law's proposals. The reduction in reparations is largely a paper-weight loss as the total depended on a gamble in futures. The gain in the release from her debt to England is a real and substantial one. With added revenue, France is now in better position to support an army large enough to feel secure, and to proceed, with the work of reconstruction in the devastated region of the north.

In the hopelessly confused and inert general state of Europe today this long predicted offer of the British Premier's is the first definite move in any direction. For whatever motives advanced. It may prove to be the solvent to clear up the clouded solution.