The Closing Door

Only last week was it so much as noticed that there were two Cinderellas who were not invited to the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact in Paris last August. Not that Mr. Kellogg, prince-charming of the occasion, did not have them on his original invitation list, but that their elder sisters conspired to have the Cinderellas' names removed.

The two Cinderellas were the Free City of Danzig and the Sultanate of Morocco. If they were offended, they at least sat humbly among their lentils last week. But official Washington awoke to the fact that the jealous elder sisters were beginning to preen themselves on their accomplishment, in a way that may prove troublesome to Mr. Kellogg.

For the moment, the least serious of the two cases is that of Danzig. The Treaty of Versailles established this Free City under the guardianship of the League of Nations. Poland has been trying, not unsuccessfully, to make Danzig Polish in everything but name. Poland objected to Danzig's signing the Kellogg treaty, and in the interests of keeping peace at his great peace party, Mr. Kellogg agreed that Danzig should not be invited. Diplomats who weigh fine points can and will interpret that as a U. S. acknowledgment of Poland's authority over Danzig.

Far more important to the U. S., however, is what may come of Morocco's omission. Morocco was on Mr. Kellogg's invitation list and France said nothing. Everything was ready for the great ratification meeting. Mr. Kellogg was on the high seas bound for Paris. The whole world was waiting to see whether the unprecedented treaty would actually be signed, when the wireless began to crackle. It was the Quai d'Orsay saying that if France was to sign, Morocco must of course stay at home with her lentils. To save his treaty, to prevent his great effort from being turned into a fiasco, Mr. Kellog consented.

That was all. But the Quai d'Orsay had in its despatch files Mr. Kellogg's consent to do as France wished in regard to Morocco. It was not literally an acknowledgment. But if France chooses to be subtle, as France usually chooses, the U. S. "open door" policy, for North Africa at least, is as good as dropped into the Seine.