Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-02-27
EUROPE, NOW ON IT'S FEET.
TURNS DOWN u. S. IDEAS
America Saying ''No'' to League Cannot
Expect eyes" to Naval Farley Invi-
tatiOn, Says Observer.

tne nationalism which had conducted
| ene war and made the peace treaty.
began at last to reassert themselves,
Inc political election of December.
| 1919. which put labor In power in
britain. and that Of May, 1924, which
upset Poincare and brought In the
carter des gauches, were followed by
the decision Of these democratic
groups to make the League the basis
OF its foreign policy.
European Viewpoints.
In the United States neither of the
considerable political parties suuports
| the League formally. Even the more
or less shadowy liberal groups are
iar from united in It's support. But
IN Europe-in Great Britain. in
france and In Germany-all the dem.
ocratic forces support the League. 1t
the corner stone Of their foreign
poiicy. Therefore. the League has
been established politically. More
than that, although the Tory govern.
ment returned to power in Britain
and Poincare regained Office I'm
france, neither has undertaken to
modify the Geneva trend of foreign
| policy.
AT bottom there are now two major
conceptions in Europe. There is the
nationalist. which sees the future only
as the past, puts all hope Of national
security upon the development of ma
tional resources, in the expansion OF
armies ana navies. 1t does not be.
| neve 1t Is possible to prevent war
permanently. 1t is not eager to pro.
woke war. 1t follows q policy of
pessimism, not of aggression.
by contrast. the opposing principle
Is tnat held by European liberalism
ana 1t has evolved into the belief that
the single hope Of avoiding collective
ruin in Europe is through some sys.
tenn or compromise. Americans adyo.
Gated the League as the promise OF
a better world. European liberals have
| come to accept 1t as the only possible
| nope or preventing the extinction OF
the existing world.
Thus suffering a. sea-chanrs fha
idea OF the League has ceased TO be
romantic or idealistic, II has become
| the basis of the political program
OF those parties which in Europe rep
| resent liberalism. And while the ma
chine has developed very slowly and
| IS still more or less rudimentary. the
idea has enlisted support with increas.
ing rapidly. Europe is accepting
the League not as a machine. pri-
| marty. not as an institution, but as a.
AhSRAOu ollO all lucd.
Want Only Joint Action.
The nations and the political groups
within nations which support the
League believe that the United States
II 1t desires to achieve results, which
| can only flow from joint action with
League members, should consent to
| snare In the whole process: should
| agree to associate itself in the dis
cussion Of the larger problems. It
holds that no answer to the relatively
minor detail Of limiting cruisers can
| be arrived at until the political cues
ton which for Europe explains the
| NUMBER or cruisers needed by any ma
| ton is approached.
Europe is not at an interested I'm
| the cruiser question. That demands
upon the future adjustment of Italian
ana French relations in the Mediter-
ranean and upon the later correlation
| OF British to French and Italian for.
eign policies. The issue of the suh
marine Is the issue Of European "a.
cur1ty In all its many forms. The
question OF the size of European
armies awaits the future evolution of
German and Russian policies.
Europe regards our naval PROPOSE.
ton much as an Eskimo might con.
slider the dress regulations prescrihed
for himself by native of the Congo
free state. 1t is not interested in
what we wear but intends to continue
to dress in conformity with its own
climate.
In the matter of a naval conference
as in that of the World Court the
United States has now encountered n
very definite and established state of
mlno. IL mas encountered the Euro
can conviction that 1t is not for the
united states to undertake to direct
the operations OF the League from the
outside and when It feels itself In
terested. Either we must enter the
League and assist In evolving a policy
or cooperate with the League on the
basis Of League procedure.
Conditions Found Changed.
What neither our State Department
nor our public opinion seems ready
10 recognize IS that the whole situa.
tlon or Europe has changed with the
restoration OF peace under the auc
cessive amendments Of the VersajIies
treaty. Not only is this the case. bur
europe has accepted the idea that the
United States intends to pursue a
policy OF isolation only modified in &C.
cordance with American convenienoe.
the State Department and the
administration continue to talk 70
Europe as IL 1t were the Europe OF
1919 or OF 1923. 1t is nothing Of the
sort. 1t has found it's own feet.
adopted its own policies and II needs
neltner ADVICE nor assistance from
America. Having made the LaaE,a
of Nations the basis of its foreign "a.
lations. 1t universally resents the
American attitude toward the Leaxus
ana the recent American attempt To
substitute an American for a League
program.
What Washington refuses to reco~.
nlze Is that our debt policy has united
Europe against us. and. therefore that
all Europe will welcome any chance
to defeat any American policy. Simi.
!arly, 1t declines to concede thar the
fact; that it has very great s,,nnort
as the expression of the policy Of tina
liberal parties in all Europearf corn.
tries, and, finally, that the Learua "a.
Sents our treatment Of Il. Thus. aanin
Geneva Is bound to applaud any af.fion
which at one time defends II and de.
feats an American effort to nanini1.
late it.
No one would expect the adninistra.
Iloh 10 Gnange Its debt or league DOL.
Icy. What Is always surprisinr r.
that 1t refuses to face the forei@n
of these policies ana n
always making proposals which serve
no other purpose than to give Eurone
chance to get back at both the ~.
and the country. In n
"ord. we insist upon being patd and
On being loved. AS a result we are
being paid by some and hated by ali.
Meantime. an international proposal
coming from Washington is no more
man new opportunity for Europe To
lnoIcate us sentiments. And In the
Ease or the recent proposal, whila nc.
one could know in advance the req sor.
which mould hc aSSicxaoa -