Evening star., 1925-11-15
UNITED EUROPE is HOPE OF
NATIONS FOR RECOVERY
Locarno Example of Trend and Idea OF
Union of States Is More
Than Dream.

dramatic as to distract all attention
from anything but the immediate cir
cumstances. 1t has not been possible
TO take an account Of stock, TO esti
mate present values, because the
whole structure still remained either
/ In flames or threatened by neighbor
Ing cQnflagration.
| Nevertheless one must now perceive
| that for the first time there is at hand
| there has perhaps arrived, an oppor
| tunity for Europe TO estimate the
situation TO which 1t has come with
] degree of calmness. With the excep-
| tfon of Russia every nation has es-
| capped from the immediate menace OF
| Bolshevism. Order in the broadest sense
| OF the word is not Immediately threat
ened by powerful elements in any
| great state. Allowing for every modi
| fcation-and they have been many
! and profound-it is still true that the
| social and economic system of Europe
! has come through the fire intact.
1t is equally true that The very
| gravity of the manifold dangers which
| have threatened the several states
! has produced at last a state Of mind
which is itself a guarantee against
| any immediate repetition of the world
| catastrophe. There is not a great
| power in Europe which does not know
| that any new and considerable war
4
| wreck not merely or mainly the for.
| eign influence and prestige remaining
| TO Europe, but would in all human
| proba bility produce social and eco
noInic consequences the extent and
| horror Of which could not be exag.
| gerated.
| The thing which stands out in all
| European thought and in much OF
! European literature today is the rec
| ognition of the fact that Europe has
| been on the edge of a complete collapse
| and there remains lot Of pessimistic
| belief that escape is not even nov
assured Not only IS the decline Of
! Europe a favorite subject Of dis
| cussion, but the thesis involved car
| be justified by endless arguments
The Will to Live.
| Nevertheless 1t Is unnlistakable thai
| there has been increasingly manifest
| ed IN the past two or three years what
may be described as the will 10 live
Notwithstanding the barriers which
separate nations as a consequence OF
war and postwar circumstances.
| there has been growing perception
| that precisely as the fate of Europe
might be accepted as written, should
| the war or pre-war state Of mind per
| sist. there al least seemed to be al
| avenue of escape We're Il possible to
arrive at any new ordering of Europe
1t Is manifest to the F'renchman, To
| the German, IL has long been apparent
| TO the more detached Brlton, not alone
that 1t was impossible TO live in the
| disorga niZation which the war had
produced, but that even a return L.
the only less complete disorganiZation
OF 1s00-1sl4 would not permit Europe
10 recover much lost ground or in any
| measure resume its world position.
| Not SO much by wise and ar-SeeinE
| craftsmanship, as result of inspired
| leadership, as by the mere weight OF
| events and the intOlerable nature OF
| conditions, there has been built up IL
| Europe body of opinion which sup
| ports and will increasingly support the
| main principle: That the single and
sole avenue of escape from ruin, or a
| the very least from a position OF rela
| tive impotence, must come through Il
| degree of cooperation between peoples
| divided by centuries of strife and in
famed by the recent years of bitter
| conflict
| Because of the necessity to fight ii
| Europe. Britain has been obliged to
| surrender her position the supreme
| naval power, to relinquish to America
the financial supremacy which she
has enjoyed for 80 many centuries
She has been obliged to take cogni
zance Of a rising spirit in her native
| colonies and India which threaten
| the very greatness of her imperial
structure. And the similar experiences
OF the other European nations all
| point to the same inescapable moral
Can Still Recover
Now for the past IS years.
| and particularly for the past dozen
years, the question has been obviously
| raised-the double Observation-Disclosures
| Europe could ever escape from the
| doom which her conflicting national
riValries had imposed upon her. and
| whether IN any event she could escape
in time to save herself from the worst
| OF the misfortunes which the long
years OF war and chaos had inflicted
| upon her. Broadly speaking, we have
watched Europe first passing through
| the acute crisis of a moral disease
| and then through the period when ii
| was still problematical whether, the
| disease having been survived. the
| patient could still recover from the
| weakness resulting.
But one thing was always certain
| If Europe were able to survive both
| the disease and the weakness follow
| ing. it would be condemned to aban
don precisely those habits of life which
| had laid 1t low. In a word. If the das
| could come when the several European
| peoples arrived at a situation where
| they could, in relative calm and TEN
porary security, freed from the men
ace OF dangers threatening immediate
| ruin, consider their situation, some
form of European cooperation and
| combination was inevitable. And pre-
| cisely that situation has now come.
| In the larger sense. at the close of
| a quarter of a century of violent an
| tagonism the European peoples find
| themselves facing a condition of
| approximate financial bankruptcy.
| crushed not alone under the burdens
| Of domestic but foreign debt They
: have not merely in many cases lost :
| the political bases Of their power
| abroad, but nations which were never
! Inder political control have. while
| europe manufactured destruction
been compelled to create their own
! Industries. Again America has in
| vaded these markets with a compe-
tition based upon mass production
which in many lines is hardly to be
| surmounted, certainly not by indi
vidual national endeavor.
Return of Sanity.
One can, think. safely reckon on
the return Of sanity in Europe. 1t is
safe to assume henceforth for an in
! definite period that We have not to
| calculate upon the basis of Franco
German or Anglo-German conflict,
but what Is equally apparent is that
| even this tremendous gain is moi
enough. Europe freed from the i'm
| mediate handicaps incident to i'm
| minent conflict cannot regain her
| lost ground. No European nation
alone possesses all or anything like
| enough material or other resources to
o,,,x