The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1919-05-31

gers drawn over Fiume and Dalmatia;
Austrian Germans n Jugo-Slavs are
contesting the possession of the dis
trlcts north Of the Dravet
Here, then, is a situa non defying
diplomacy. There was the old Austro-
Hungary question betweea the Serbs
and the Hapsburg monarchy. and be-
tween the Italians and the Austro-
Hungarian empire, but today, with the
H~apsburgs gone and tho empire fallen,
20 questions, each threatening the peace
of the world, have arisen.
Nor is 1t possible to solve these ques-
tlons by the simple application of the
Il points or of any otter formula.
An example: Banat, claimed by Hun
g%arians. Serbs and Rnmanians, is &C
tually inhabited by half a score of
races, no one of whith Is in the ma
jority. There are more Rumanians than
Serbs or Hungariank, but there are
several hundred thousand Germans.
Further. any astrological division
would result in economic paralysis,
since 1t would give bne country a larger
part Of territory, hut another all rail-
road and river outlets.
To solve the Austro-Hungarian prob
lem by faithful application of the
right OF self -detefmination would be to
create a crazy guilt. To settle it on
the basis of economic interests would
be to perpetuate chaos by continuing
q mixture of races, and yet some so!u-
tion, some settlement, must be made,
AT the present moment we have seen
the whole progress Of the peace con
ference threatened by the dispute of
the Jugo- Slavs and Italians over Fiume.
"A temporary compromise for this ques-
ton; a solution remains, practically
speaking. impossible.
Expect New War.
There is not a wea-Informed observer
In Parts who does uu; believe that
war between the lta ,ia.o and the Jugo-
Slavs Is a moral certainty within the
next decade. We maze removed the
peril of tia la irredenta, but despite
the best intentions OF the Paris con-
ference, q new irredenta has been ere
ated on the Adriatic. Moreover the
old tendency toward combination Is re-
asserting itself, Italian Eoliey and Ru.
manian policy march toward a COM
mon alliance againt Jusr-Slavs, since
Rumania claims all of Balat, and Italy
the Jugo-Slav regions on Nhe Adriatic.
A similar drift of Hungarian policy to-
ward Germany Is inevitable, since Hun
gary will find herselt without natural
frontiers and reduced from IA state of
20, 00O, 900 to an insignificant republic
of seven, German Austria has already
demanded union with Germany.
In uniting C2echs, Slovaks, Ruthen-
ians and South Carpathians the Paris
conference has liberated large num-
bers OF Slavs. but the new state 1t
has created defies all rules OF national
existence. 1t extends tranSrerseiy
across mountains; railroads ant high
ways uniting east with west DO not
exist and can not be built, and II the
Czechs and S,ovaks rave been united
of their own wish, the RuthenianS will
ciamor FOR unity with the Ukraine.
Beside the solution Of the Austrian
problem, the German question Is triv-
lat, Actually. in creating half a dozen
new states we have raised twice as
many new problems. EXactly as the
liberation of the Greeks, Bulgars md
Serbs led to immediate rivalry be
tween these three new states, a rivalry
which provoked at least two wars he
tween Serbia and Bulgaria and one be-
tween Greece and Bulgaria, we nave
now prepared the way for sim ar cob
flicts between Poles and Czechs, be
tween Poles and U~krainians,. Izechs
and Ukrainians, Rumanians ana Ukraii
ians, Magyars and Rumanians, Magyar
and Cgecho- Slovaks, Jugo-Slavs and
Rumanians, Jugo-Slavs and Italians,
and J~ugo-Slavs and Austrians,
In ali this welter Of conflicting ma
tional aspirations a single solution Is
~discoverable. although It seems TO-DAY
impossible to realize. The reunion OF
AT least a portion of Austria Hungary
In economic IL not political federation,
the association of Czecho- Slovaks, Hun
garians, Rumanians, Jugo-Slavs and
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES,
Two Will Oppose.
This may lead in time to the crea-
ton Of a situation Of peace II co,
operation. But two great powers Will
set their faces against such solution
Italy, which fears that such a fedora
ton would contest Its supremacy on
the Adriattc; Germany, which hopes TO
ACQUIRE Austria and, by preserving an
archy to the southwark. keep awe the
opportunity to re-create Mitteleuropa,
which was her dominating ambition be-
fore and during the war.
II must be apparent that the treaty
OF st. German. which we are presently
to make with Austria, and the SUB
seQuent treaty which we shall make
with Hungary. will In fact, settle moth
ing, To liquidate the Austro-H Hungarian
empire will at least be as complicated
liquidation Of the Turkish empire, In
Europe, which has taken a hundred
years and is not yet complete. In fact,
the war has simply extended the east
ern question from the shores OF the
Rosporus to the frontiers Of Ger
many. III HIlC" VI tIt httt h'iNoi'
state which have kept Europe In an
uproar for half a century, we have
created a dozen larger states, equally
certain to threaten the peace of Flu.
ope with these races the league oil
nations A have no weight, since what
ever the situation in the west of Eu-
rope, nationalism still remains ram
pant In the east. The solution OF the
Questions involved on the basis OF the
fourteen points bring no aid, because
in all major conflicts each side can,
with equal justice, invoke at least one
" these points to support its conten-
ton.
In sum II Is essential for Americans
TO recognize that. so far as the peace
OF the world is concerned, the Austrian
settlement Is ever more important than
the German and that the possibilities
OF permanent adjustment are far less
numerous.
Actually the war, by destroying the
central authority of tho Hansburg mon
archy, has released races whose rival
ries are at least n thousand years old.
These races are as unwilling to sub
init their claims to the final decision