Richmond daily register. (Richmond, Madison County, Ky.) 1917-1978, 1920-10-04
EUROPE LOOKS FOR
AMERICA IN LEAGUE
Says General Secretary of Chris
tian Churches, Just Back
From Conference

New York, Oct. AEurope's
faith in the League of Nations has
not waned, but she looks hope
fully to the entrance of the United
States to give it the capstone of
success and meanwhile is work
ing eneregetically to repair the
ravages of war and to solve the
problems of reconstruction. This
summary OF the situation over
seas is given Ly Rev. Charles S.
MacFarland, General Secretary of
the Federated Council of the
Churches of Christ in America,
who has just returned from ser
| les of religious conferences in
Switzerland and from a speaking
tour OF the larger cities of Eu-
rope.
For an American to be i'll Eu-
rope at this time is humiliating
and sometimes almost dishearte1-
ing" said Mr.. MacFarland. Il
found the people there confused.
They do not know what to make
of Americas present aloofness. 1t
seems to them in such sharp con-
trast to our former attitude dur
ing the war. Any expression of
hope that America ultimately
would assume her place in the
League of Nations was received
with tremendous enthusiasm and
with evident satisfaction.
For the peoples of Europe as
a whole are doing magnihcently.
They all are setting themselves
industriously, seriously to their
terrific problems OF rebuilding
and reCOnstructlng
"While, OF course, their eco
nomic needs are very great, one
of their greatest needs at the
present moment is that of moral
support and encouragement. They
expected this from the great
American nation. AS they now
look across the sea to us and find
us engaged in apparently in in
ternal disputes, some OF which ap-
pear to be on rather uniInportant
matters, it looks to them like act
ing the part of Nero playing his
fiddle while Rome burns.
1T would be untrue, however,
to say that the American nation
and the American people, on the
whole, had as yet irretrievably
suffered in the estimation OF the
people OF Europe. They still be-
lleve in us and look to us for help.
The feeling was often expressed
that if the American people were
near enough to see and to hear
the needs of Europe, all of us
would take the attitude of such
representative men as Mr.. Van
derlip. On the other side they
are still anxiously awaiting the
time when the American people
will know and understand these
needs.
"Thoughtful Europeans are a
good deal disturbed about one
phrase which frequently re-
echoes across the sea-the words
America first To them it sounds
just little like the words which
used to come from across the
Rhine-'Deutschland uber Allies
not with the same sense OF ag-
gressiveness but with something
of the same selhshness. If these
words are going to continue as a
slogan for any large element in
American life, they must be ex-
planned and interpreted to our
friends in Europe, for they GER
tainly have a bad sound over
there.
SIT has recently been asserted
that faith in the League of Ma
tions has waned in Europe | did
not find any such evidence, ex-
cepting the feeling that the parti-
cipation of the United States is
essential to its ultimate success
and that its present work cannot
be. regarded as any kind of test.
The general feeling was that with
America in it, the future would be
full of hope. This feeling of de-
pendence upon the United States
is i believe, as great as it was in
1913 when they awaited the com
ing OF our troops"
Bought Load of Mules