Expeditionary Force

The French Cabinet sent forth Joseph Caillaux to battle single-handed over the French Debt settlement with Great Britain, but as it prepared him to go forth to the U. S. it fortified him with an expeditionary force. The reason for the difference was simple. When M. Caillaux went to London he had no expectation of making a final settlement. He knew that the British Government would not dare arrive at definite terms until Washington had made terms, for fear that Washington would get better terms. But M. Caillaux very much wanted to know where he stood with Britain before he undertook to settle definitely with the U. S. For, although the U. S. will not admit any connection between French debts to Britain and the U. S., yet from the French standpoint it was necessary to know how much one must pay the first debtor in order to know how much there would be left to pay the other. The London agreement (see COMMONWEALTH) for equal treatment for the U. S. and Britain settled that uncertainty.

On Sept. 16, the French debt commission will sail for the U. S.-- according to latest advices. The mission to Washington will go forward therefore to negotiate if possible a final and definite settlement. Accordingly M. Caillaux is to be surrounded with a mission. The composition of that mission was decided last week by the French Cabinet:

Finance Minister, Joseph Caillaux; rapporteur of the Senate Finance Committee, Henry Berenger; rapporteur of the Budget of the Chamber of Deputies, Lucien Lamoreux; Deputies, Maurice Bokanowski, Franklin-Bouillon, Vincent Auriol, Marques de Chambrun. The experts attached to the mission include Joseph Simon (Director of the Societe General, large Paris bank). Moreau Neyret (of the Ministry of Finance), Thion de Lachaume (Director of the Indo-Chinese Bank).

They will have a hard time at Washington where officials have already expressed themselves as displeased at the Franco-British agreement. M. Caillaux last week asked the French press to be mild in its comments--not to stir up ill feeling that will hinder the mission's work at Washington.