The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1921-11-27

ton and remain dominant In
Europe, the dominance OF the last
survivor, the cock upon the dung
hill Of a general decay? / doubt 1t.
Watch the franc upon the ex-
change as the true meaning Of the
French search for security" dawns
upon the world. Watch the sub
scription to the next French loan to
pay for more submarines and more
Senegalese. 1t may prove to be too
difficult a feat after all for France
to wreck the rest of Europe. to de-
stroy her commerce by destroying
her customers, and yet to save her
self. When France begins to break,
she may break very quickly. I'M
der the surface of this exuberant
French patriotism runs a deep tide
OF Communism, raw and red and
insanely logical.
We talk Of the saner, graver
France, the substantial France.
that is masked by the rhetoric of M.
BRAND and the flag-waving French
Nationalists, Of a France generous
enough to help a fallen foe and
great enough to think of the well
fare of mankind. / wish we could
hear more Of that saner France.
And soon. / can see nothing but a
wal ihc oid dUu IIllbCUlcN-
GUS, leading France and all Europe
to destruction. 1 do not see that it
Is possible for a France Of arma-
ments and adventure to dance along
the edge Of the abyss without fall
ing in.
The Case of Britain.
When we pass out of the CONT
mental to the Atlantic system and
consider the case Of Britain, we find
a country with a stabler exchange
and a tradition Of social give and
take, stronger and deeper than that
OF any other country in Europe.
But she il not a self-maintaining
country. Her millions live very
largely on overseas trade. She is
helplessly dependent upon the pros
perity Of other countries, and par
ticularly OF Europe; the ebb Of pros
perity abroad means ebb for her at
home. No other country feels so
acutely the economic prostration of
Germany, no other country suffers
80 greatly from the restless activi-
ties OF France. She is struggling
along now with Unprecedented
masses of unemployed workers and
the state Of affairs abroad offers no
hope Of any diminution Of this bur-
den. The housing of her popula-
ton has degenerated greatly since
the war began: she cannot continue
TO feed. clothe, nor educate her peo-
pie as she used to do. unless the
decay OF Continental Europe is ar
rested.
l do not know what political form
OF expression a great distress in
Britain might take. The tendency
toward revolutionary violence is not
very evident in the British tempera-
ment, but people who are slow to
move are often slow to stop. The
slow violence Of the English might
not 1ind expression in revolution
and might not expend itself internal
ly. They might get resentful about
France-and perhaps Germany
might be feeling resentful about
France, too. But I will confess that
I cannot yet imagine what an acute
ly distressed Britain might or might
not do. Yet 1t is plain to me that
the shadow that lies so dark over
Petersburg stretches as far as
London.
Europe in Reality.
Such, compactly. is the condition
OF Europe today. / submit to the
reader that 1t is a fair statement of
facts in common knowledge. This
Is not the Europe Of the diplomatists
and publicists; 1t is the Europe Of
reality and the common man. 1t is
a process of decline and fall. going
on under our eyes, swifter and more
extensive than the decline and fall
OF the Roman Empire in the fourth
and fifth centuries. It's immediate
cause Is the destruction Of the
monetary system under the burden
OF war expenditure and war debts.
And the only possible hope that 1t
may be arrested lies in a prompt
and vigorous world conference to
put an end to war expenditures. in
GLIDING even these French war ex-
penditures that M. Brands ad-
mirers find so tustifiable. to ex-
tinguish debts and reinstate stable
and trustworthy money in the
world.
There Is no evidence yet that the
Washington Conference will take
up this task or will even contem-
plate this task. find myself In the
trough Of the waves today and less
confident Of the outcome, even the
limited outcome, Of things here. I
am increasingly doubtful whether
the conference will get as far in the
direction Of a stabilized Pacific as