Evening star., 1928-02-12
EUROPE is AWAKENING
TO LEADERSHIP OF u. S.
Nations Abroad Aided in Conclusion By
Havana Conference and American
Stand of individuality.

the United States over South America.
The weapons would be those Of propa-
ganda. not of military character. But
henceforth one could and can expect
that Latin and even Anglo-Saxon Eu-
French, the Spanish and the Italians,
will seek To awaken Latin American
lands to the imminent peril Of Yankee
invasion.
Feels American Power.
In the postwar years Europe has
again and again been brought face TO
face with the negative consequences Of
our actions. Our refusals to join the
League, to accept European response
bilities 1t has felt Increasingly the
power Of our wealth. But what 1t has
not even dreamed OF Is that along With
the clements Of power went the pur..
pose to use them. Suddenly our naval
program. the Brian-Kellogg discus
sions. the Havana Conference, COM
bined to reproduce something like
revolution in European conception
European visitors have been writing
friendly II mordant books about the
United States, speculating on whether
or not We have come Of age. accepting
the iGea that probably we have reached
Cur majority in matters OF finance and
of industry But in political fields. and
particularly In the field Of internatIon-
al relations. We have been set down as
still In the kindergarten.
Today on the contrary. all Europe
Is specializing upon what We are doing
with the power 1t Is patent that We
have and clear that we mean to use.
II one were TO take as a sign Of the
times the mere volume Of American
comment appearing in the European
press. as contrasted with the amount
Of comment printed ordinarily, feel
never. and certainly never in peace
time. has the present volume ever been
approximated.
Use Different Methods.
No one could pretend that any con-
siderable amount Of the comment
printed at the present time Is friendly.
There is an infinite difference between
the ways the British, French and
Italian writers undertake to deal with
the American phenomenon. British
Journalism still, as a whole. preserves
a tone Of well bred aloofness. only at
moments dissolved by temporary ac-
cess Of irritation. The French press
criticises with keen. biting sarcasm.
The Italian press coldlly dismisSes such
things as the American proposal TO out
law war as childish. but welcomes the
American determination to build q
great Navy as yindication of the
Fascist dogmas.
Given this general sense Of irrita-
ton. and even anxiety. Is II conceiva-
be that there may presently develop
some unity of Europe. some federation
OF European States allied to resist what
they describe as the American invasion?
Under cover. you viii hear not a little
discussion OF this possibility, but as O
reality ] do not think 1t deserves any
present consideration II for no other
reason than that practically every con-
tinental European country still desires
to borrow money IN the United States.
1t Is extremely unlikely that any viii
make the smallest move to promote .
partnership against US.
Higher Favor Sought.
Moreover. for q good while to come
several European nations will still cling
70 the illusion that IL Is possible to
make q special bargain with US. to get
or to hold q peculiarly advantageous
special situation. That vas what lay
behind the BRAND gesture. which was
designed to revitalize the traditional
Franco American friendship and elm
mate the disagreeable memories left
by debt controversies and Ruhr op-
erationS.
Even to this day there survives In
Great Britain the conviction that In
the end the world must be regulated
by an Anglo American partnership.
Despite the obvious unpleaSantneSs OF
the challenge Of the American naval
program. nothing Is less likely than
that Great Britain will in any present
time undertake TO restore the balance
of power In the world by making such
alliances with continental nations IS
those which she made with France and
with Russia before 1914. alliances In
fact. ententes In theory.
All this talk aeou, American irperl-
ism has been going the rounds for
months. ever since the Geneva confer
ence. probably before II, What was
significant about the Havana-Psu-
American meeting waS that II supplied
a solid basis In the days news, Ia CO.
temporary history. for all the things
that people In Europe had been dlmly
thinking and vaguely saying. The re
suit was the explosion which ! have
tried 10 describe.
MARX Dawn OF New FRA
In my Judgment the conference
Itself viii be date and y fact men,
orahle hereafter as marking the poirt
at which Europe finally made Up It's
mind about uS. finally abandoned tie
comfortable notion that scner or later
We should go European" and eonc'uc-
ed that We were 'gcsns ative,S which
by Interpretation means american, o..
even more exactly. "Yaak,~."
No longer does EQrnps ,>sty our <',n-
plicity or condemn the short sighted
sreed og oir debt policS. rs II Csice
described that policy, Least ct all dosS
Europe affect to ignore ~ as II has
been doing particularly in the press
always, save AT rare moments, rolstt-
cally. Internationally. We lave suddenly
"ceme ot age" and ours Il the greatess
inheritance NJ power ~ fncaern tnne,
The United States at haeana Vas ,scs
one cf many American nstscnS III sSNn.
ference. II Was the American cetc>Sut.
heStridtng two cNant,neAsS ana kSsksng
cut uyscn new continents TO CONQUER,
Hence the general, universal, Alsvssesaa
cutlery,
tCrnN4sS tnHst