Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-22
BY FRANK SIMONDS.


NV at the recent assassination
in the Belgrade Parliament
and that sinister celebration
of the anniversary of yet another Bal
kan crime which set the whole world
on fire, little notice has been given to
the contemporaneouS declaration OF
Bucharest which reaffirmed the solidar-
ity of the little entente and its renewed
support of the territorial status quo
created by the peace treaties made at
Paris nine years ago.
Yet this doctrine of Bucharest car
| ries with it an immediate and direct
answer to the campaign conducted by
Secretary kellogg to bring about the
outlawry of war exactly as it restores
French influence in Europe. which re-
mains the real center of opposition to
the kellogg project, an opposition based
| upon conviction of its ultimate
| futility.
| The Bucharest declaration Is an i'm
mediate answer to two wholly inherent
proposals to revise the peace treaties.
| The first of these came from Lord Roth
ernerc. who in the London Daily Mail
| has been carrying a drive" on behalf
/ of the Magyars. The second was dis
closed in a speech of Mussolini which
| signalized the recent entente made be-
tween Hungary and Italy and suggested
moderate concessions to the MagyarS.
All Ready to Fight.
/ Now Rumania, Czechoslovakia and
| Jugoslavia unite in a fresh affirmation
| that they will fight rather than consent
| to any territorial change in the region
which directly interests Hungary, and
has been the scene OF much Italian dip
lomatic effort in past months. This
Il n1ar inf7I10nF0
| because France has been and remains
| solidly anchored to the policy which
based peace on the inviolability of the
| Paris compacts.
| France is already bound to Britain
by the Locarno pact. which. in fact.
commits Germany as well as Italy to
| the recognition of the finality OF the
| treaty of Versailles and the status quo
| in the Rhine area. She is bound to
| Poland and to Czechoslovakia by
treaties of alliance and by the Locarno
reaffirmation of these treaties to defend
| the integrity of each on the German
side. Poland and Rumania are bound
| by similar compact against Russia.
and Rumania. CzechoSlovakia and
| Jugoslavia through the little entente
are committed to the status quo in the
Danube area.
| But all these several contracts bear
| upon the Kellogg proposal because. pri-
marily they close any door to peace
| full reconsideration of the frontiers
created at Paris. which are regarded as
intolerable by the nations who suffered
thereby The Germans as people are
resolved not to permit the Polish cor
rider to endure. The Hungarians are
unanimous in asserting that they will
| ultimately restore the old unity OF the
Crown Of st. Stephen. What Russian
policy will ultimately be no one knows.
but even the Soviets have refused to ac-
cept the loss Of Bessarabia as final.
while Ukrainian claims to eastern Cali
cha and White Russian claims to the
wilma and Grodno areas are at least
significant.
/ Mussolini's Activities.
| For two years, at least, Mussolini has
been seeking 10 break down the virtual
| supremacy of France In Europe, which
was based alike upon French possession
| of the strongest single army and of
| French support of the doctrine of the
| inviolability of the treaties He has
| made measure of progress at Bucha-
rest. but unhappily for him he has. at
| the same time, sought to establish
| Italian influence at Budapest and in
| the present situation in this corner of
Europe it Is impossible for one to have
| as allies both the RumanianS and the
| Hungarians.
Following Mussolini's recent declara-
ton in favor of moderate treaty re-
vision affecting Hungary there was an
| immediate and unfavorable reaction in
Bucharest. and the whole eoifice OF the
Italian-R umanian entente collapsed.
Meantime the steadily acute situation
between Italy and Jugoslavia, with its
recent and frankly disturbing mani
| festations. had its natural effect In Bel
| grade. Finally, CzechoSlovakia, more
! than any other central European state,
Is menaced by all conceivable proposals
| for revisions and recent declarations by
both Czech and Slovak representatives
have demonstrated that this dual state
stands solidly against change.
France comes back, then. supreme
in Europe. She has openly met the
| Italian challenge which has been de-
| liberately directed against her. by
new treaty Of alliance with Jugoslavia,
which answers the italian compact with
| Albania made at T'irana. But even
| more completely, IL less directly, she
has met 1t by standing firmly to her
| policy of no revision, which in the end
has brought all threatened states back
| to the fold.
| What Practical Effecte
| But II there can be no peaceful re-
| vision of existing boundaries and GER
tain PROFESSIONALLY the Germans, the
Magyars and the Iithuanians, to say
nothing OF the Bulgarians, proclaim an
undying determination not to accept
these frontiers--what practical effect
can the project to outlaw war have?
How can It be employed. as many
Americans have seemed to expect, as
an alternative for the system of ALI
| ances which exists and has been the
real basis for the opposition to the
kellogg propoSal-an opposition which
| has already threatened TO transform
the proposal into mere gesture with
out serious Significance9
AS long as war remains the sole
escape from evils which seem intoler-
able mere formal Remuneration will have
| little real bearing Moreover. while the
Poles feel that they are menaced alike
by German and by Russian aspirations,
while the nations Of the little entente
fear Hungarian purposes and the Jugo-
slavs are apprehensive of italian de-
signs, none OF these countries will rely
upon mere paper promises and agree
to any real disarmament. much less TO
any Scrapping OF treaties of alliance
which have distinctly military clauses.
The difficulty with the KellogG pro-
poSal and with all similar American
Efforts to insure peace lies In the basic
assumption that peace actually exists
and that the problem is to prevent the
outbreak Of war. But for millions or
Europeans peace does not exist and the
situation which prevails increasingly
comes to seem worse than any possible
conflict. The kellogg proposal. In effect
by binding its Signatories not to make
war an adjunct OF policy removes the
single present way that the Germans
can recover Danxig and the corridor,
the Hungarians their many lost prov
inces, the Lithuanians wilma,