THE RUHR: A Gesture

The Stresemann Government ordered the German population in the Ruhr and Rhineland to cease passive resistance against the Franco-Belgian occupation.

Thus Germany appeared to admit that she was beaten in the Ruhr fight. In effect, however, nothing of the sort occurred. Reports indicated that Chancellor Stresemann made the cessation of passive resistance " a gesture " to satisfy French honor and to avoid prolonging the struggle indefinitely. An Allied conference, to which Germany will be invited, will be called in the near future.

Informed circles have it that the German renunciation is in effect a compromise. France and Belgium are expected to withdraw their military forces from the Ruhr and to permit the Germans to exercise complete control. France, Belgium and Germany lost heavily in the Ruhr occupation; either side can be said to have won, except by closing a most disastrous episode in the history of Europe.