Evening star., 1924-04-27
European War Unlikely;
Armed Peace Is Possible

| is now heading for immediate war
have detected SEEM as l have said.
to point not only to a general desire
for peace but TO daily Increase in
this desire. On the other hand. unless
Germany in some way is brought
back into a different state of mind
from that in which she now exists al
peace will be in the nature of an
armed peace. and the world will he
exposed to the danger Cf a Sudd N
explosion. We shall. in fact. have an
armed peace. something II the. state
of war, which. under the name OF
peace. has prevailed now for more
than five years.
II | were TO sum up the ra ther
cursory answer | have tried to make
! to the original question. | would sa=
| that European peoples generally and
the British and French peoples in par
ticular. indeed all the neutrals and
even the new states-with the single
exceptionof the Germans-are not only
Clamoring for peace. but exartiag
ever-increasing pressure upon their
statesmen to provide that peace which
they desire.
So much is clear basis for optimism
And this basis is not only recognized
but welcomed on all sides. ! cannot
recall how many men Of every posi-
ton, in public and private life,
statesmen and journalists. have told
me that there is new spirit in Eu-
rope. / have said. and ] have repeated.
that the change between 1922, when
l was last in Europe. and the present
hour, is impressive in the extreme.
Perhaps a little from WEAKNESS. dis
appointment. establishments, the peo-
pie of Europe have been led to ali an
don one hope and one claim after an
other. The detiation Of national aSpi-
rations from the high water mark
Of the Paris conference is "xt'aorji-
nary.
See Destruction in War.
But by contrast you a"c da.Iy ana
hourly brought TO zeal that Europe =
still Europe. that thu ?.pblcmS. the
anita agonisms the conflicting national
and racial interests. remain untouched ID
and unaffected. perhaps seeming d lit
tie more insoluble now than at anv
other time. Since given the universal
longing for solution. no adjus tment
has been found or is disc3rerable.
Europe believes, all Europeans be-
| lieve, that another war such as the
last would be the destruction Of all
| European civilization. That is the
axiom on which all discussion Cf
peace or war is based. Europe be-
lieves that some form of continental
adjustment, something which, how
States of Europe. is the Singln way
out of the labyrinth. But being Euro
peans they believe with verJ few cX-
ceptions that the only possible escape
is totally impossible. Only Macdonald
believes that the league of nations is
the door of salvation. and h" means.
with the support of the leaders of
many smaller nations, to cndeayor to
! esta blish this.
! Never has Europe seemed TO me
quite sad in my present visit.
The sadness grows out of an over
powering realization OF the almost
universal desire of the people for
peace and the apparent hopelessress
of the efforts of the leaders of the
people to find any way of arriving ut
something which one might call with
out too much optimism. if not perma :
nent peace, long assured tranquility.
You have sense of the almost in
superable obstacles which geography
and history and race haYe placed in
the pathway of the attainment Of
precisely those things which in the
United Sites are accepted as a matter
of course.
Copyright, 1924, by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicate