"Entente de Thoiry"

Foreign Minister Stresemann of Germany slipped away from Geneva by motor one afternoon last week. Wily Foreign Minister Briand of France went for a boat ride, was met some miles from Geneva by Dr. Stresemann's motor. Chuckling at the success of their ruse to deceive newsgatherers, they were driven swiftly across the Swiss border to the tiny French mountain village of Thoiry. There they sought a snug inn famed for its cuisine, the Chalet Russe.

M. Briand afterwards admitted that the Chalet's bustling waiters placed before them fresh caught mountain trout, roast chicken, sausages, peas (served as a separate course in France) and a basket heaped with fruit. What they munched was washed down in good Swiss wine. What they said was later hinted at in an official communique:

"Aristide Briand, Minister of Foreign Affairs of France, and Gustav Stresemann, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, had a conversation of several hours which was most cordial. In the course of this conversation they examined, one after another, all the problems which might interest the two countries ana they sought together the best means of assuring their solution in the interest of both France and Germany and the spirit of the treaties they then had signed.

"The two Ministers conciliated their points of view on general solutions, each reserving the right to refer them to his Government. If their points of view are approved by their Governments, they will resume their collaboration."

Rumors naturally fled about that M. Briand and Herr Stresemann had been dickering over the complete evacuation of the Rhineland. Well plied with questions as to whether this was the case, M. Briand concealed his thoughts loquaciously:

"Instead of talking to one another over the telegraph, we met, man to man and face to face. That is the better way. One of the great virtues of the League of Nations is that it brings foreign ministers together and they cannot help discussing their troubles.

"Oh, it was a good luncheon. As we sat down the clouds drifted away from before Mont Blanc, and the famous peak stood out in all its whiteness. And we both felt that its whiteness was not whiter than the whiteness of our souls."*

* Government-inspired German news organs declared next day that Dr. Stresemann had offered to place half a billion gold marks' worth of German railways preferred stock at the disposal of the Allies on condition that M. Briand should obtain the following concessions: complete evacuation of all German territories occupied by the Allies; recovery by Germany of the Sarre Valley; and the acquisition by Germany of the Belgian districts, Eupen and Malmedy.