Evening star., 1926-11-07
Continued fnom First Page.l

fact that German policy is now all
directed toward bringing to an end
French occupation Of German soil,
while for France this German desire
offers patent possibility for obtain
ing ready money. through the mobi
lization of German railway and indus
trial securities.
Speaking generally and with due
exception for the Italian situation,
which is unique in Europe, the peo-
pies of the whole continent are war
weary and are groaning and more or
less crushed under the burden of post.
war problems. The spirit Of peace
may be largely the result of weari-
ness, but 1t does not differ materially
in London, Paris or Berlin. Moreover,
this common sense of WEAKNESS. this
community of suffering, is contribut.
ing nightly to the creation of some
thing one may call European spirit
All the great divisions, the physical
divisions imposed first by firing lines
and then by postwar passions and re-
sentiments, are breaking down. The
Germans have come back to France
and Italy; there is a great and grow
ing resumption of intercourse De
Spllc lIS dbOul war ullI anu
the like. which are carried on by the
press and even by the public men of
many countries, popular interest is
not very great, and the influence of
these memories may easily be exag-
gerated. If YOU think merely of the
psychological consequences of the
war, they have been largely liqui-
dated
Reunion of Europeans.
At the recent Geneva assembly
absence of anything which might sug-
gest national divisions between the
representatives of countries there
present. BY contrast, you had the
sense that all people of all nations
were, perhaps a little unconsctously.
rejoicing that Europe as a whole was
once more united. that the whole con-
tinent was once more open to all its
inhabitants and that all the old, IA
nliliar habits of all the pre-war years
could be resumed.
Aside from the unknown possibili-
ties of the Italian situation. all Eu-
rope expects at least 25 years of
peace. and is talking about the failure
at last without any Of that apprehsn-
sion which filled Paris during the
peace conference and was the domi-
mating circumstance of all the later
international conferences. The next
war is not a subject of debate or CON
slderation. BY contrast. on all sides
one gets the same marked sense Of
the increasingly rapid restoration of
a state of peace between peoples.
This is the great basis for opti-
-mism. Psychologically it is not, in my
judgment. an exaggeration to say
that Europe has liquidated the war.
But by contrast stands the grim fact
that economically not only has the
war not been liquidated but the i'm
mediate future is far less promising
than seemed likely to he the case
only little while ago, There could
be no more gross eXaggeration. and
even misstatement, of the European
situation than that which represented
Europe as prosperous. rich or happy.
In no recent visit to the Continent
have | encountered so much uncer-
tainty, doubt actual fear Of the flu
ture, not because of political but Of
ancial and economic problems The
mass of Europeans are still suffering
more or less acutely from the conse-
quences of the war: some countries
are suffering more than they did three
or four years ago. Whole ella sses of
society have seen their means of ex-
istence wiped out; other classes see
destruction approaching or even inevi-
table. Even in Germany. where re
coverE is at least most organized. the
costs are perhaps most patent-ths
costs expressed in terms Of human
Wreckage and human suffering.
Thinking in Bread Terms.
i- %I,;x Il, To-,
militarism, imperialism, nationalism.
1t is thinking in terms of'bread. of
food, of clothing. Of all the narrower
and more intimate personal problems
of existence. The present Winter is
going to he one Of the worst in re-
cent history in practically every coun-
try from Britain to Poland The real
recovery of Europe must now be per
ceived to be not question of the
present but of the future, and of a
future which must still be long dis
tant. The extent of the revolution in
human existence. the amount of de-
struction which the war brought. are
only just beginning to make them
selves felt on all sides and the dis
closure must increase with time
If one is to understand the real
feeling of Europe toward the United
States, of the sentiments all Europe.
with little regard to national boun-
dar1es or recent memories. one must
begin by taking into account the ac
tual condition of the mass of Euro
pean people In vivid contrast with
their own difficulties, uncertainties.
actual hardships. the mass of Euro
peans see America across the ocean,
rich, secure against any visible dan
ger, economic or political. freed from
all restricting burdens of the great
conflict, happy. prosperous and with
out any visible evidence Of any single
one of Europe's major hsrdshIps..
And this America is daily represent
cd to the millions in Europe who suf.
for and must suffer for many years to
come AS seeking further to increase
it's own prosperity at their expense, as
seeking to impose new burdens and
hardships and further dnpress the
standard Of living in Europe. that it