Evening star., 1924-09-25
nv PAIL SCOTT MoWRER.

BY PAUL SCOTT MoWREH.
n C,h,e IN The star and chicago Daily News
GENEVA. Switzerland. Septembe!
5-The purpose of these artlcieS-
this being the first of three-ls 70
show that, despite gloomy sehti-
mentalists. disgruntled advlce-SiNerS
and the abysmal propaganda OF OPP
moments of the new political order.
Eurone has at last turned definitely
toward peace. cooperation and re
newed prosperity; that this happy
turn is due largely. in its political
aspects. TO the rather tardy resump-
tion of international cooperation b<
the United States and, finally tha'
the continuation of. this American
co-operati ton is essential if the i'm
provement already achieved is to be
increased or even maintained.
AS recently three years ago
there a ma jor war stlll IN prog
ress in the Near East There were
; or 90 minor political disputes that
threatened any moment to burst into
flames Ireland was in insurrection
Armaments were being maintained or
strengthened. Russia was menacinE
everything and VerHbody. Germany
was in full revolt against the treaty
Of Versailles The wounds left by
the great war were still red ana
gaping. Frontiers were closed. bust
ness was Stasnant. Famine and pes
thence were freely predicted. even
by eminent bankers supposed TO be
optimistic by profession. and the
fatal work of these apocalyptc dis
asterS was to be completed. the world
was assured by revolutions de-
structive of the last vestiges OF
European civilization. for the con-
tinent. as reconstructed at Paris,
could not live" All this. remember,
was barely three Years ago.
Conditions Now Reversed.
To err now on the side of excessive
optimism would be equally ineXcusa-
hic. Yet consider the present situa-
ton and outlook Except in Russia
where the apparently inCurable in
competency of the doctrinaire rulers
continues to delay recovery. not only
is there no longer danger of famine,
nut some of the countries that were
almost starving are now producing
food for export.
OF peStilence and destructive revo-
luton there is not the slightest sign.
Ireland and the Near East are peace
full. To the surprise of the pessi-
mists there are now actually no wars,
Except Spain'S chronic troubles in the
Riff. and even most of the interna-
tional disputes of three Years ago
have been harmoniously negotiated.
.hfTdme entS are StfaCHN decreasing
both in cost and in power. The air is
full of peace plans. disarmament pro-
posals. arbitration schemes. Many of
the more onerous frontier reStric-
tionS have been removed. CONNER
Cial agreements are being multiplied.
Through trains run regularly. Tele-
grams arrive promptly. international
telephone calls come quickly through.
In Paris and London are many Ger
man tourists.
The birth rate is satisfactory: in
some countries more than Satisfac-
tory. Fields, mines and factories
ruined by the war have been restored
New houses have been built. Recon-
struCtion is nearly completed. The
tall chimneys are hammered with
smoke; long, heavily laden freight
trains roll from town to town; ships
come and go buSily in the ports. FL
nance is once more binding the ma
tions together in its network of fra
Eile, delicate. golden threads. Bust
ness. in the slow orderlinesS which
alone betokens sound growth, is pick
ing up again. To the worn and dis
iiluSioned, but now once more hope
ful and eager peoples, confidence is
being restored.
In the individual states.
From this general picture glance
now at the status of individual coun-
tries. The British empire, to the
surprise OF some. has not yet broken
up. 1t has great problems. but it is
meeting them with its old adaptive
skill. Its population is larger than
before the war Production is in
Creasing, unemployment. though still
serious. is less menacing.
France is at work everywhere
thrifty and silent. Its ruins are
almost repaired. In a couple OF years
more reparation-the largest job of
the kind in all history--will be done
and the principal burden upon its
staggering finances Will be lifted
whether Germany pays or not
Germany has passed it's successive
economic, financial and political
crises, has seemingly learned its les
son and is tightening its harness
grimly to meet the inevitab bic charge.
placed upon it as its share in the
cost of the war
Italy has emerged from its internal
disorders, has settled its quarrel with
Jugoslavia and is silently and peace
fully working. Even Russia seems
to be evolving toward political con-
reptions less inrendiary and economic
conceptions more nearly in accord
with the ancient prejudices of human
nature.
The so-called new" states. whose
early demlse was so confidently fore
told-Finland the Baltic countries.
Poand, Czechoslova kia-seem to be
thriving. in a modest sort of way
The predicted dissolution of Jugo-
siavia seems still far away
Even Austria Is Saved.
The expected insurrection in Mace
donia has not taken place. Bulgaria
has fortsWorn communism and is
evolving toward better things
Greece, cured of its folly of grandeur
is peacefully recuperating its over
taxed forces. Hungary, despite its
hypochondriac protestations, gives tn,
impression of being alive and well
Even Austria, which had sunk lowest
of all, has been Saved by kindly
and interested outside Intervention.
The old argument that Austria
cannot live" because one-third of
its population is concentrated in it's
capital has ceased to be impressive
Some body has looked up the statistics
of other countries Nearly a third of
the population of England lives in
London fifth of the population of
Switzerland lives in the seven chief
towns. Half of the population of
Australia inhabitS the six capital
cities. Austria. apparently, is not so
incurably deformed as was imag ined
Chief Obstacle Political.
The principal obstacle TO Europe S
recovery has been political. The
United States threw the. machinery of
the peace settlement out of gear and
destroyed the post-bt llum Balance of
power by rejecting. the settlement
and Withdrawing its cooperation