In the meantime it seems probable that passive resistance in
the Ruhr will quickly come to an end. The doles which the German Government have been guaranteeing to idle workers cannot be continued. With a show of bravery the German Government have discussed various plans for negotiating with France, but the real decision rests not with the German Govern- ment but with circumstance. The French are much 382 pleased at the obvious approach of what they call a triumph. It is a remarkable case of not being able to see the wood for the trees. We trust. that Mr. Baldwin has been able to say a good many things which helped to remind M. Poincare of the one and only sensible object of Allied policy. It is conceivable—and here is the ground for hope—that the end of passive resistance in the Ruhr will make a Franco-British agreement possible on an entirely new basis. France may say that she has " won " in the Ruhr ; Great Britain will say that she never could or would have approved of French policy in the Ruhr, but that in any case it is now done with and that she is delighted to help France to make it possible for Germany to recover her capacity to pay.
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