Evening star., 1925-10-02
BORDER STATES"
MENACE TO PEACE
Neglected by Great Powers,
They Are Potential
Trouble Causes.
Correspondence Of The Star and the Chicago
Daily News.

Daily News.
PARIS, France. September 10
Before suggesting possible remedies
for the menacing instability OF East
ern Europe, it would be we'll to recall
the causes of the instability. These
are:
/. The neUness and the interior
weakness of the so-called Russian
border states.
9 The revolutionary agitation car
ried on in the border states, as ordered
by the dictators of tho communist
world conspiracy in Moscow.
:. Russian Gnd German activities
against sterilization within the pres
ept frontiers.
:. Insufficiency of existing pacts
and guarantees. as evidenced by the
continuance of negotiations for Sc
ouritv-an insufficiency due chiefly to
the divergent or wavering policies of
the great powers respecting world
peace.
Really Matter of World Peace.
SO far as l can judge from personal
observation, there is no reason to
doubt the vitality and national spirit
OF the border states. Time is curing
many of their ills In six years they
have accomplished much. What they
need chiefly are economic readjuSt
mentS and relief from the atmosphere
OF menace in which they have had to
organize. They feel-not without rea-
son-that they have not been accorded
the material and moral support which
their strategic political situations war
rant. They think, not illogically, that
this Indifference and neglect are In
directly an encoura cement to the
hostile hopes of their enemies.
No doubt the border states have
committed many errors. and small,
weak states can Ill afford the luxury
at making mistakes. But the ques
zion goes beyond the merits and de-
merits of the border states: it Is a
question of world peace. To under
stand the peculiar difficulties of the
peoples living west of the Soviet
frontier: to give them a measure of
sympathy, of moral support, and to
help them with money whenever possi-
ble-these are measures which GER
tainly do not exceed the capacity of
western peoples and would as GER
tainly do much to further the consoli-
dation Of the border states, thereby
partly eliminating one factor of in
stability.
Need of Police Cooperation.
The best direct defense against in
ternational communist agitation is in
ternational police cooperation. This
has been realized to some extent in
Eastern Europe. 1t could and prob
ably should be extended to include all
non-communist countries. Largely it
takes the form of a prompt and conf
dental exchange of information. For
the rest, the revolutionary activities
Of Moscow in the border states would
be negligible, as far as results go, If
the menace of Qlrect armed attack
were not added.
Against the Russo-German menace
two sorts of remedies may be en-
visaged. First, efforts to dissociate
Germany from the Russo-German al
lance being made under the leader
ship of Britain and not without sue
cess. The attempt to reaSsure Ger
many, to restore it to the fellowship
OF Western peoples, to have it enter
the league of nations, to mollify it
with pacts and agreements and
credits, seems well advised.
There is here, however, a line which
it would be dangerous to overstep: No
concessions should be made which
tend to awaken rather than to still
imperialistic and bellicose ambitions,
and there should be no thought Of
pacifying Western at the expense of
Eastern Europe. For Europe is a
unit and there can never be lasting
peace that is not based on respect for
word of honor.
Communists More Active Than Ever.
AS to the second sort of measures
those tending to concilliate and mol
lily Soviet Russia-thev have been
attempted by several great govern.
mems but without the slightest sue
cess. Never has the conspirative Third
Interna tionale been more generally ac
tive than at pesent. There are no indi-
cations that anything can be done
with the fierce and embittered Mos
cow dictators. They understand and
believe in nothing but armed force.
The only way, in my opinion, by
which they may be deferred from try
ing to execute their sinister designs
against the existing international
order is by convincing them that, be-
cause of the solidarity of their ad-
versaries. aggression by The red army
and navy could not possibly succeed,
and indeed, would be suicidal.
FINALLY. the question Of the solidar-