Evening star., 1922-11-27
ECONOMIC MATERIALISM
Continued from First pase.)

Those who preached this doctrine had
not dicovered its virtues on the NOR
row offthe armistice. At that time,
on the contrary, they refused to
adopt it.
At the close of 1918 there was
economic solidarity. It had been
slowly, painfully created in the proc
ess OF winning the war. The neces-
derstood. Raw materials, cereals,
SHIPS. even money-all were pooled.
1nterallied committees concerned with
foodstuffs, munitions and shipping as
sured the proper functloning OF this
gigantic pool. But as soon as the war
had been won the Anglo Saxon coun-
tries insisted on the Immediate sup
preston of this mechanism. The in
teralliedf committees disappeared one
after the other. Soon, only to give one
example, the wealth. the exchange of
! the continental countries collapsed.
Decries Keynes' Theory.
The United States and Great Britain,
however. held on their course. con-
vinced that the return of commercial
liberty could alone furnish an outlet
for the intensive production that the
| war had developed in their respective
! countries. That was a purely eco:
nomic and materialistic viewpoint, ex..
| tenn Of Mr.. Keynes and his friends.
Events have proved this solution to
! be erroneous. The European client.
! the continental consumer. left to him
| self, has not been able to keep pace
with Anglo-Saxon production. The
| exchange crisis has diminished BY
more than half the purchasing power
| of the continental nations. English
| coal and American corn have equally
i suffered. Here and there strikes and
crises of stocks have been the direct
reaction to the financial chaos of the
continent. Economic materialism,
which demands the revision Of the
| treaties, holding them to be RESPONSE
BILE for all the chaos. was born Of the
| panic created across the seas by this
London and New York considered
| only the narrow viewpoint of mate
rialistic economy. They made a mis-
| take. and the system of excessive COM
petition injured just those who had
counted on gaining from 1t. The eco
but exist after the earthquake of the
war. But it was augmented, and to
what a degree, by the egotistical rigor
| displayed in the Anglo-Saxon coun-
tries against erstwhile allies and
associates" The repercussion of this
error having manifested itself where
it was least expected, arguments
have changed and continental Europe
is now reproached with creating eco
nomic disorder because she lacks the
spirit of solidarity.
| A Feeling Of InSecurity.
! Considering the memories of 1918
that 1 have just conjured up, it mus,
be admitted that the reproach is a,
least somewhat unexpected.
! would add that in envisaging the
present. things appear somewhat par
| adoxical. for this solidarity which II
is insisted Europe shall develop, this
| indissoluble union of economic inter
ests over and above frontiers. which
Europe Is charged with disregarding
people no longer think of it when
It Is Europe herself that might bene-
fit. I have not the intention to dis
cuss in detail what is known as the
debt problem. will confine myself tc
remarking that If payment OF debt Is
an obligation Of honesty. such obliga-
tion should be as imperious for Gef-
! many as for all other countries. Quite
| a lot OF people don't seem to reason
| that, when they lavish advice on
peoples who are creditors of the coun-
| try which Lord Balfour christened
with spirit three months ago 1.-The
greatest international debtor" fail
=" CSo " AA1Sh PoA = VA tAAo " VI III uI-
dergone Improvement as a result of
the materialistic thesis of Mr.. Keynes.
see, on the contrary. signs almost
everywhere Of the supplementary
trouble which that thesis has created.
That thesis. which demands a revision
Of the treaties, has propagated in .ef-
feet a feeling Of Insecurity through
out the world. In other times. once
treaty was signed. one executed it
That has all been changed. Lord
hoa hat
form Of government in developing
itself runs the risk Of becoming irrec-
oncilable to an honoring Of interna-
tional engagements. The three years
which We have just lived through
would seem to Justify his deduction
II, however. 1t had been demonstrated
that democracy really does exist