Official Opinion

There are two items concerning the action of the French Government in the Ruhr, which at first may be taken as indicative of nervousness, but which in reality are the expression of a determined policy to settle directly with Germany and a resolute decision to back the army of occupation.

The first is a semi-official "warning " issued from the Quai d'Orsay (French State Department): "The French Government will consider as unfriendly and even hostile any effort at mediation. It is determined to take no account of soundings which may be made by intermediaries, and it will examine German propositions only if directly and officially communicated."

The United States had made it clear that it would not offer mediation until France should indicate officially that she would welcome such an action. In England the position is much the same. In spite of great pressure from the opposition to intervene, Bonar Law, British Premier, has stated that Britain would not take the initiative in any attempt to settle the Ruhr dispute.

The second event is an increase of the occupational forces by 15,000 men as a result of violence displayed lately in the Ruhr. Fear of guerrilla warfare is also a reason for the dispatch of these French reinforcements.