Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-21


| sold.
Crisis Approaching.
Day by day, in the face of all the
| terrible consequences inevita bic in case
of a national economic battle, the sit
uation Is drifting toward an ultimate
crisis. We are living on the edge of
the precipice." this is the familiar
phrase of observers of almost every
shade of opinion. The nation by and
large is eager beyond exagGeration to
avoid the catastrophe, but while It
hopes. the fears remain constant and
the zero hour of May l approaches
without progress toward peaceful ad-
justment.
Looking beyond the mere economic
and industrial consequences Of a ma
tional strike such as must now be
reckoned as possible if not probable
it is clear hat the social and political
effects can easily be tremendous.
What would happen IL the whole work
ing population of an industrial ma ton
suddenly were thrown on the streets.
he food supply of the nation were
paralyzed, all transportation brought
to dead stop. can hardly be ina gined.
What possibilities of disorder, violence
and general trouble would exist cannot
ca silly be exaggerated.
Plans Made to Fight
1t is fair to say that in the face
Of this impending battle organiZa ton
is going forward. vast system OF
volunteer motor transport is ready at
the moment, the Government has or
ganiZed a great supply system. recall
ing that of the war behind the fight
ing lines. A huge army of special
constables has been enrolled there
has been an almost German efficiency
Shnwn In the nizarinr nf ha
Tense against the possible attack upon
national life incident 10 "A general
strike.
Yet Is is clear that the nation as
whole does not want to fight. The
forces which are pushing for battle
are twofold. the extreme labor fac
| tons, which take their color from the
Russian soviet. and the extreme con-
servatives, for whom the Facisti meth
| DDS are the model. battle between
Rome and Moscow would be inevitable.
| if ii were not for the fact that the
vast mass Of Englishmen are respon-
sive neither to Lenin nor to Mussolini
| inspiration. Yet always one has the
| dangerous situation that the Tory
leadership is being worked upon by
its extremist followers to stand and
| fight, while Ramsay Macdonald on the
| labor side, like Baldwin on the Tory,
is under similar pressure.
Class War Feared.
| The supreme effArt and the domi-
mating necessity of Stanley Baldwin
| is To avoid what may easily degen-
| crate into q class war. class war
| which if once Joined may so TO man
| lengths and last for an incalCula bile
period of time. regard being had for
! the passions Embossed.
You can put the thing very clearly
|
| the whole fabric IF the British polit-
| ical structure is Al stake. and the ul
| innate success Of the British people
| in surrounding what must be re-
| garded as the Cruelest test in their
| long history depends upon decisions
soon TO be taken. If labor and cap
ital separate for a long battle il is
almost impossible to conceive that il
| will he possible during or even at
the end of the struggle for Britain
| to come back. The supreme genius
of the race to compromise, to i'm
| provise, to adjust, Ito muddle
| through" has now to be proven once
more.
! Accordingly when one comes Ia
| face the familiar questions as to Brit
| iSh recovery, to meet the inquiry now
| common on our side of the water rs
| England through" one must per
Ceive that the response has to be CON
| ditional, for the decisive test has not
yet been made. Despite all forecasts
| of evil and analyses having their
| origin in pessimism, British trade
| and industry are improving. Britain
| has had on the whole another bad
| year, but there have been. neverthe-
| less. many scattered signs of actual
| Improvement and some real solid
proofs. | do not see any reason to
| believe that the average Englishman
| is half as peSsimistic about his own
outlook as are his American friends.
Optimism Prevalent.
| 1t is a fact that where last year
| there was a fairly well organized
propa ganda of peSSimiSm designed
| for home consumption and intended
to convince the laboring man that
| he must make sacrifices To insure a
national prosperity i'll which he would
| share. there is today just as mani
! testify a deliberate propa ganda OF
I optimism. You find all public men
and business men III their public
statements insisting not alone that
| things are improving, but that the
| future is assured. that while effort
| remains necessary. the worst is over.
But all optimism is conditioned on
| the one mighty if All depends
| upon the coal question. If it cannot
! be solved. If the battle he joined. or
| il the still slender resources of the
| treasury be again mortGaged to meet
| subsidies. it is difficult to see how the
| restoration can take place. If the
coal industry has a subsidy today the
| railway workers may obtain II to-
morrow. e the coal mines are ma
tionaIized the railways will certainly
| follow suit. ane we shall have Eng
! land willy nilly committed to social
! ism on a scale which hardly can he
| ealized on our side of the water.
! Coming here direct from Americ-,
! have the sense that there is as yet
| no adequate appreciation of the real
| ity of the present crisis in British af-
| fairs, crisis which is social before
! it is political We have been treated
! to endless discussions of the British
! situation as disclosed in statistics OF
| trade taxation and production. Yet.
| in England people are thinking in
other terms. they believe that II the
| great problem of domestic adjust
| ment between capital and labor can
| take place, if there can be coopera-
! ton and not class warfare, all other
problems will in due course Of time
be solved-are in fact solving them
! selves.
Suspense Keenly Felt.
! Actually one, has the sense here
! which one had, in visiting the allied
| armies during the war and in the
! quiet Winter period preceding the in
! evitable launching of a new campaign
! in the Spring. There is a sense of
| suspense, of excitement, of the com
| ing of great events. There is a feel
| ing that action which may we'll be de-
| cisive is at hand. There is about the
same amount of confidence, determ-