San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-08-14
EUROPE NEEDS
I HELPFUL WORD
{ FROM AMERICA
Correspondent Says Cool
idge Has Opportunity
to Bring Peace.
CAN CLARITY TROUBLE
Europe Must Be Told How
She Can Win Conf
dence Of the U. S.
CAN CLARITY TROUBLE
Ry DAVID LAWRENCE.

Copyright by The san Antonio Light.
New York. Aug. 14.-The situation
in Europe Is almost as incredible as
it was in August. 1914.
With genuine miSgiyingS, might one
ask: Have the nations Of Europe gone
crazy again: Are they determined 10
begin anew years Of organized murder
anu challenge again the capacity of
the white man 10 develop s Christian
civilization:
Fo- the facts Of Europe are SORROW
fgl and piiisble. Seeing first hand
the plight O; Europe is the only way
really 20 grasp what & dangerous sit
Uztio1 fo- all the world Is being bred
there. Americans returning from the
continent utter prayers OF thanks that
The United States Is 5000 miles away,
a1G some Ot them come back confirm
Cd in their beliefs that America ought
not get itself mixed up in the quarrelS
or troubles Of Europe. Scores OF sen
stors and members OF the House, bust
ness men and casual observers feel
that way about il. Never has Europe
been so thoroughly studied as this
summer by the thousands OF tourists
and political pilgrims.
But il is one thing to turn a cold
shoulder 10 distracted Europe because
the situation is distasteful-nothing
Gould have been more distasteful than
the events that prompted America TO
enter the war in 1911-and it is an
other things to look with eyes Of SYM
patty and speak words of plain.
Straightforward logic to the European
people. For Europe is more TO be
pitied than scorned.
May Give Wrong Impression.
In such a situation American ST.
lence, American aloofness, American
caution can easily be mistaken for
the timidity of selfishness. Despite all
that has been said since the peace
conference, the fact is Europe does
not understand America. Bewildered
first by the miraculous transport Of
two million men to rescue the allied
cause, the same peoples cannot grasp
the reason for sudden crawling into
the shell without so much as a kind
look.
There is, however, more sane
thought about Europe in America than
there is in Euorep itself. Americt
can help to lead Europe out of the
Wilderness when the right time comes
when the foundations have been
built by the Europeans themselves.
First there must be will to get to-
gether and agree upon facts. Never
was there such mixture of motives.
prejudices, hatreds and suspicion with
what one would like to call facts"
except that there are no such things
IN Europe today.
No two nations agree. for instance,
upon what Germany's capacity TO pay
PREPARATIONS can possibly be. No two
factions in Germany can agree on it
either. And as for Great Britain one
needs only TO read half the British
press and see how terribly militaristic
and grasping France has gotten all
Of sudden and turn to the other sec
ton of the British press and discover
how surprisingly pro-German the Brit
lsh government is accused of behaving.
Nor is France without dissension
though it must be said in candor the
French people are more of a unit in
their policy of keeping Germany from
getting on her feet than is any other
country in Europe.
You cannot find agreement among
the many countries as TO what Ger
many has already paid or what she
can pay. And there is unfortunately
good reason TO believe certain inter-
ests in Europe do not want any such
agreement. They do not want to be
bothered by facts. They want to
achieve certain aims.
Behind the scenes Of diplomacy is
big business. Stretching eager hands
for booty, these captains of industry
manipulate the parliaments and leg
islatiye bodies Of Europe as surely as
the ventriloauist does the puppet on
his knee. Newspapers right and left
are subsidized or controlled. With
one or two exceptions the words "pub-
lie opinion" mean the typranny of
certain groups who play upon popu-
lar emotion the tunes that stimulate
the dance of commercial or financial
ambitions.
That's why governments are so in
consistent and seemingly powerless