Evening star., 1922-08-17
Europe at the Crossways.

Europe at the Crossways.
Virtual breakdown Of the entente
between Great Britain and France
brings the peoples Of Europe to star
Ting realization Of the fact that they
have come to the parting of the ways.
The situation will not admit that
things can go on as they have gone
since signing of the armistice, aim
pose. apparently without understand
ing. Breakdown Of the Franco-Brit-
ish entente will be followed speedily
by breakdown of the entire European
structure unless the road to sanity and
reasonableness and practical things is
found without delay.
A slump in the German mark to a
point where it requires more than
l. 200 marks to buy an American dol
lar, coupled with sharp declines in
value of the French franc and Italian
lire, following disruption of the Lon
don conference, shows how near the
abyss Europe has approached. A few
more such jolts certainly would send
it over the edge and into chaos so
overwhelming as to be unreasonable
from precedent, and even imagination
falters at the task. and is appalled,.
The British people are represented
as stunned by the shock Of rea1iza-
ton that things have reached so des
perate a stage That Is not surprising.
The British people and the peoples of
the continent apparently had closed
their eyes and refused to see or heed
OF care whittier they were drifting.
They seemed in a daze and to have
lost all sense of values and Of relativ-
ity. Americans saw and understood
and refused to be drawn into the mael-
strom. but the warnings they issued
abuse. We were accused Of being self
ish and hard-hearted because we re-
fused to imperil our own security by
dumping our resources into the SEEM
ingly bottomless pit being digged by
European maladministration.
1t is proverbial that the darkest hour
is Just before the dawn, and 1t may be
that now conditions in Europe are SO
bad that they must of necessity grow
better. But there is little in the out
look upon which such a hope can be
based. Poincare returns to Paris, and
the French cabinet approves and ap-
plauds the stand he took at London.
Lloyd George shows no sign Of reced-
ing from or softening the British posi-
ton. The German government is
ready to throw up the sponge. 1t tier
ates and reiterates I'VE cannot pay"
and waits in sullen inactivity the next
move of it's enemies. From no states
man in Europe does there come a
hopeful gesture or constructive sug-
gestion as to how to meet and over
come the crisis. All. apparently. are
just waiting for the crash, dumbly
and in despair.
What has become of the spirit which
animated the allied peoples Of Europe
in the years of war-the spirit OF Yer
dun and of Ypres, the dauntless reso-
luton of the Marne? They were then
people inspired, unselfish and self
sacrificing. Petty things were put
aside and leadership was bold and
fertile of resource. They met COM
mon peril with hearts that were resQ-
lutte, and they conquered it. Today
they face a common peril as deadly in
it's way as were the ruthless legions
of the kaiser, but in meeting it they
seem to lack both in resolution and in
resource; the iron seems gone from
their souls and their blood turned to
water.
Their condition is desperate, it is
true. and their difficulties so great as
to be almost overwhelming. But their
condition is not more desperate nor are
their difficulties greater than were
those of the south following the Amer
lean civil war. The south recovered
because, whatever else Lee surrender
ed at Appomattox, he did not sur
render the courage of southern man.
hood. Europe might find lesson and
an inspiration there.