Evening star., 1928-12-31
BY WILLIAM BIRD.

- UROPE at the close of 1928, 10
l. years after the armistice, Is at
last convaleScent. Many OF the
IL wounds of the war have entirely
healed. The patient is able to
take mild nourishment and strong med
icine and to some extent attend to
business.
The most encouraging sign is the gen.
eral cheerfulness of the patient. Every
doctor knows that in long illness the
most important factor IS will to get
we'll. This Europe has acquired.
1t may be said that Europe mentally
is now about where the United States
was in 1920 The United States recov-
cred from the war very much more
quickly. BY the time the presidential
campaign of 1920 was reached-juSt a
year after the peace treaty was signed
Europe rather had the impression that
the United States had not only recov-
cred from the war, but had forgotten
it. This seemed quite obvious to Eu-
ropeans when soon after they beheld
the spectacle of the United States sign
ing a separate peace with the common
enemy.
What had happened was that Amer
lea, almost as soon as the war was
over, came to the conclusion that it
would be. impossible to keep on being
mad at Germany forever. When ma
tions have to live together in the same
world they must sooner or later come
to terms with each other.
Not So Easy for Europe.
It was not so easy for Europe to take
realistic attitude toward the liquida-
tion of the war There was too much
misery left in the wake of the titanic
struggle and too much rancor, ard too
little hope that order and prosperity
might soon be brought out of the ruin
and chaos that lay on every hand.
In two years America had recovered
| from the war and was ready to begin
the march toward prosperity. But Eu-
rope could not recover so quickly and
especially could not so promptly adopt
| that calm and calculating attitude that
| is the first requisite of business success
1t has taken 10 years instead of 2 for
Europe to recover her mental balance
and to look at things as America could
look at them in 1929.
The man who can keep his head
while all about him are losing theirs
| and blaming it on him" is, of course
never popular. America has not been
| popular in Europe during the past eight
| years. Europeans have fairly ragged al
| the sight of Americas impassiva seren-
ity and at the prosperity that has re-
| suited from it. But that is changing
Rancors Largely Gone.
The rancors left by the war have
largely disappeared 1t is no longer
| possible to lift German crowd to .iot
pitch by denouncing the Flcnch
French politicians who today should at
| tempt to repeat their diatribes of a few
years ago against Germany would run
the risk of being lynched.
This means that all the complicated
| financial and economic problems in
volved in the liquidation of the war can
now be tackled dispaSsionately, and
therefore can have some chance of be-
ing solved. Adding machines can now
be substituted for fiery speeches and pro-
vocative newspaper iitorials.
The stabilization of the French franc
few months ago. while it imposed
enormous sacrifices on the French peo-
pie, has done much to enable Europe
to take this new and healthy realistic
, view of affairs. So long as Frances
| currency was subject to f1uctuation. 1t
was a weak point in the nations armor,