Vote of Confidence

The decision of the Council of Ambassadors not to ask for the extradition of the ex-Crown Prince from Germany and to reestablish the authority of the Allied Military Control in Germany was made the subject of a vote of confidence in which the Chamber of Deputies upheld Premier Poincare by 506 votes to 70, and virtually gave him leave to press Germany " Allies or no Allies."

At points M. Poincare's speech was almost defiant in tone. Said he: "If tomorrow we have to defend our security, we will not have to wait the good pleasure of any one. . . . Our security is above all assured by consolidation of the territories which we occupy. As long as Germany does not show herself pacific, we will remain on our guard. As long as the Treaty has not been entirely fulfilled, we will not abandon the left bank of the Rhine. . . . We would have liked to have had the conference of Ambassadors demand at once either extradition of the Crown Prince as one of the War guilty, or his banishment. The reestablishment of the Hohenzollerns on the throne would be a menace to European peace." (The whole Chamber, including the Communists, cheered this pronouncement. ) "Your unanimous agreement against the return of the Hohenzollerns will be known this evening throughout the world. . . . I ask you to pass judgment on the attitude of a Government which would have preferred immediate, rapid sanctions, but which, to avoid a break with the Allies, preferred to adopt their point of view."