1 OCTOBER 1927, Page 2

Less pleasant words must be said about the movement in

Germany to secure a reconsideration of the " war- guilt " declaration in the Peace Treaty. We willingly admit that the insertion of such a statement in a treaty was a mistake. For the purpose of a treaty it was foreign matter, as it was incapable of exact proof. The sequel to President von Hindenburg's recent declaration of com- plete blamelessness has been perturbation in France. That was inevitable, although we think the French anxiety quite unnecessary. The French much too ingeniously point out that the case for reparations is interlocked with the fastening of war-guilt on Germany, and that if the war-guilt statement was expunged reparations would probably lapse. * •*