Evening star., 1923-02-06
New Start for Eurone.

Things are so shaping themselves
in Europe that it begins to seem that
q new start might be made and bet.
ter job achieved Of reconstruction.
Blunder heaped upon blunder brought
the war-torn continent close to the
abyss. At the very edge there is a
pause. apparently to give governments
chance either to retrace their steps
or to take the plunge into chaos. And
governments are showing signs Of de-
sire to avert the plunge. In other
words, there are indications Of return
ing sanity.
At the very seat Of the trouble Is
French occupation of the Ruhr and
Germany's passive" resistance to
such occupation, with Great Britain
trying to be neutral, and in conse-
quence weakening her influence and
losing prestige. This would be bad
enough if the harm did not spread be-
yond the problem Of reparations and
affiliated questions, but the harm has
not been so confined. 1t reached into
and nearly wrecked the near east con-
ference at Lausanne. Because the
British and French had lost accord
the position of the Turks was strength
ened immeasurably and they came
near to recovering practically all they
had lost as consequence Of their de-
feat in the world war. The Armenians
were sacrificed upon the altar Of allied
discord and self1shness; the high
morality Of the treaty Of Sevres was
abandoned and the Lausanne confer
ence degenerated into a scramble to
hold Oil and other concessions, with
the willy Turks playing one power off
against another, and growing more
insolent and insistent as the western
powers grew more suspicious and
more grasping.
down to its darkest hour. with the
Turks refusing to sign the treaty and
the representatives Of Great Britain
and France taking their departure.
And in this darkest hour there CLEANS
ray Of hope. The Turks discover
they were not 50 keen for war as they
had made themselves, and the allies.
believe. They have reconsidered their
refusal and, with slight notifications,
may sign the treaty, which gives them
a great deal more than they had any
reason to expect or possibly could
have won had it not been for lack of
allied unity. Discreditable as, the
treaty is to the western powers, Eu-
rope will accept it gladly as substi-
tute for war.
And now, too late. perhaps, material
ly to rectify the blunders at Lausanne,
there are signs of improvement with
respect to the Ruhr. Though the Cuno
government still processes to be ada.
mant in its resistance to the French
program, parliamentary leaders and
other influential Germans are begin
ming to see the futility Of holding
out, and are urging the government to
come to terms with France. At the
same time, Ambassador Jusserand, in
a speech here in washington, repre-.
sents France as in a mood Of concilia-
ton, ready to melt" X only the Ger.
mans will indicate repentance and a
desire for understanding.
It now remains for England to give
assent to occupation of the Ruhr, if
only as a fact accomplished. and to
cooperate in making 1t possible for
occupation to accomplish the objects
sought. Then France and Great Brit
tain could return to full cooperation
in the near east and elsewhere, and
though the ground already lost may
| not be regained, at least civilization
| may be saved from further disastrous
losses.