Those meetings of the statesmen in No. 10 Downing Street will make a
dramatic chapter in history when they come to be written. Behind the
representatives of each nation stood the forces of reaction: sullen,
menacing, obstructive. Herriot knew that if he yielded too much he
would be destroyed by the Conservatives of France, by that formidable
power still held by Poincaré and all he stands for in French opinion.
Marx and Streseman knew that if they surrendered too much they would
be overwhelmed by a Nationalist outburst in their own country. Ramsay
MacDonald knew that if he asked either side to ignore their own
public opinion the Conference would fail and calamity would follow.
The American Ambassador, Kellogg, knew that his people would refuse
to guarantee a loan to Germany unless France withdrew demands which
deprived it of all security. Time and time again the Conference was on
the point of breaking down. The international bankers sat behind the
scenes refusing to sanction French plans for further penalties against
Germany if she defaulted in future payments. There was anguish among
the Germans when Herriot told them that his hands were tied regarding
the evacuation of the Ruhr and that no withdrawal could be made until a
year more had run. They saw his difficulty as he saw theirs. The French
would unseat him if he conceded an earlier withdrawal. He pleaded with
them to agree to this condition—utterly opposed to the spirit of the
Dawes Report—for the sake of the loan of forty million pounds sterling,
future liberty, world peace. The wires were hot with messages to and
from Berlin and Paris, where the Governments insisted on national
demands. The fate of Europe trembled in the balance, until at last the
German representatives yielded to that year in the Ruhr, under protest,
with misgivings and forebodings, but with a hope that the enormous
disappointment to the German people would be outweighed by the saving
of their economic life, the future liberation from hostile occupation,
a postponement, at least, of ruin. So the Dawes Report was accepted
and signed, and the London Agreement began a new chapter of history in
which there is a promise—another chance—of peace at last, and a spirit
of conciliation between the nations.