Evening star., 1919-11-09

there was in the United States, GER
tainly was not to be found in Europe.
but, by contrast. there was a certain
emotional outburst.
Much obscurity Cleared Up.
Looking backward over the course
of the last year, much that was op-
scure in November. 1918, becomes
clear. In the first place. we are all
now painfully aware that the war so
thoroughly uprooted institutions. hab-
its, systems, that the chance OF
return to the before-the-war condi-
tions was impossible, not alone po-
litically, but economically.
On the political side. two OF the
great empires of modern history-the e
Hapsburg and the Romanon-had
been destroyed. blown into frag-
ments. and between the fragments
there had developed hostilities, an
cient and new. which continued. and
seemingly will continue, long to
plague and to puzzle. A third and
even more powerful empire-that or
the Hohenzollerns-had crashed down
after military defeat. and for the
moment it seemed likely to dissolve
into another Russian chaos.
The task of those upon whom the
duty developed to make peace was.
therefore, a thing entirely. different
from the problem which might have
been posed had Germany been de-
feated in 1914 or even in 1915. while
the Russian and the Austro- -Hunga-
rian empires still stood and the Ger
man empire itself had not undergone
the disintegrating strain of four
years of conflict.
Decisions Have Been Assailed.
The decisions of the conference of
Paris have been universally assailed
attacked alike by the representatives
of progress and reaction. by the lib
erals and the conservatives. but they
have been even more bitterly aSSailed
by masses of men and women. who
without profound convictions looked
to Paris for a real settlement ana
find themselves now confronted In
each days news by the inescapable
settled than were recognized to exist
a year ago. The largest indictment of
public men of all nations that one
encounters today is based upon the
fact that they have failed to achieve
any complete or approximate settle
ment, that the great questions which
were set before them a year ago re-
main unanswered today.
Out of this situation has grown do
nestle unrest in every nation which
fought. If the Germans aSSail their
own leaders for having consented to
the French. the British and the Ital-
ian people, and for that matter the
American, assail their representatives
for failure to dispose of the issues
raised by the war in such fashion that
peace or even approximate peace
would be assured.
Engrossed in Public Debate.
Today in America we are engrossed
in a bitter political debate over
single detail in the peace settlement,
our whole legislative and even our
executive departments have been en-
gagged for nearly six months in de-
bate which has not yet terminated and
must terminate before there can be
peace in the world. In France the
debate, if now ended. has been not less
acute, while the British ministry,
which brought back the most profit
able peace terms in British history,
found itself in a minority only the
other day and narrowly escaped
resigna ton.
Meantime. while domestic unrest, po-
litical and even more economic has
postponed a return to peace in four
great nations. who, in alliance. de-
feated Germany, multitude or rival
ries have broken out between newly
liberated peoples. between the recent
allies and between the great powers
and smaller races. Back of this
lies the even menacing shadow
of Russia, where, if results are the
measure. western craftsmanship has
failed most conspicuously and COM
pletely. Not many months ago it was
estimated in the British house of
commons that there were twenty wars
actually in progress and the number
has hardly decreased since that time.
Each newspaper brings fresh re-
ports of the fighting on at least three
fronts in Russia. Italian and Jugo-
slay troops face each other in an
armed truce on the Adriatic about
Fiume and Serb and Rumanian troops
are mobilized against each other in
the Banat, while Rumanian soldiers,
In defiance of allied mandate, continue
to occupy Hungarian cities and prov
inces. Never was the situation in Asia
Minor more critical than today, while
the western nations remain deadlock
ed over the ultimate disposition OF
the last remaining fragment OF
Turkey in Europe. the Thracian Hin
terland of Constantinople.
Certain Facts Esta abHshed.
In all this chaos and confusion it
is plain that certain facts have been
established. Rightly or wrongly. it is
plain that the people of France. Great
Britain and the United States will
not consent to fight a new war to
restore order in Russia. they will not
supply the troops to expel the Ital-
ians from Fiume or the Rumanians
Eom Budapest. they hesitate eseI