Evening star., 1929-12-15
u. S. INFLUENCE ON PEACE
OF EUROPE is SEEN VITAL
American Attitude Held Determining
Factor in Rivalry Between Britain
and Continental Powers.

cruiser tonnage at Just twice the French,
unless you will agree to stand by us In
case we become involved with the
French and Italians in the future"
When however, we address. the
French, they will see us asking them
forever to accept position OF helpful.
ness in the face of the British. Why"
they will say, must We consent 10 be-
come a third-class naval power forever
in order to let you get parity with the
British inexpensively?"
Then is Mr.. Stimson going to seek to
support the French thesis-and the
Italian-at the expense of the British
or the British at the expense of the
Italian? If he does the former, then we
are mixed up in the present european
tangle on one side: If he does the latter,
we are in on the other. To bring about
a reduction of naval expenditures, we
are then faced with the well-nigh in
eScapable necessity to take sides in
European controversy
For there is, today, a controversy
going on in Europe. France and Great
Britain are again at odds. The truce
which lasted from 1924 to last Summer
was ruptured violently at The Hague.
The Labor government now in power In
Britain has broken OF the Anglo
French entente, French and British
policies are in collision all over Europe
and so, for that matter, are British ana
italian and Italian and French. For
the next few years the only real chance
the British have of prevailing over
France in Europe is that they shall
have American backing.
France Is Better on.
Today France is financially and eco
nomically incomparably better of than
Britain. She has in addition the SUI
preme army on the continent and the
support of all the other considerable
military powers save Italy. Germany Is
disarmed and still occupied by French
troops. Finally France has the dtplo-
matte support of her continental allies,
Poland and the nations Of the little
| entente. Through her situation at Ge-
neva she has been using the League Of
Nations as an instrument OF French
policy for four years.
Now at The Hague Labor, through
Snowden, challenged the French po-
sition. He inflicted a serious wound
upon French prestige. His supporters,
| in fact nearly all of the British press.
proclaimed after The Hague that
| Britain meant now to follow new
policy. to abandon Tory subservience to
| France, to put an end in Europe to q
French hegsmony contrary to British
interest and injurious to British pres
| tige.
! On the morrow of this Anglo French
| break Macdonald fastened across the
! sea and for days the press of the world
/ was filled with the news and the pic
! lures of the American President and
! the British premier in close cornmtln-
! ion Did that mean that Macdonald
| had undertaken, not without success, to
enlist American support for Britain
| against France? 1t may be recalled
| that even American newspaper corre-
spondents, notably David Lawrence, an
| nounced that it had been, agreed that
the two navies would henceforth act to-
gether To be sure this announcement
was officially and emphatically denied
| but in France the announcement found
more credence than the denial.
London is not going to be primarily
a question Of peace but Of power. And
| for all the European states, for Britain
| as much as France. the real issue Is
going to be whether Mr.. Hoover is pre-
pared to commit the decisive strength
of the United States to the support of
the British thesis in Europe in return
| for British agreement to recognize
! American equality and accept American
| demands for the reduction OF naval
| tonnage,
Not Really at Peace.
Today Europe is at peace only in the
military sense. Diplomatically it is at
war. A labor government in Britain
has undertaken to abolish that French
hegemony on the continent which was
established by the disarmament Of Ger
many and the retirement of the United
States from Europe. This hegemony
was disputed by Lloyd George In he
long duel that ended in the occupation
Of the Ruhr, but was of necessity ac-
cepted by the Tory government as the
necessary price of European economic
reconstruction.
But as long as Germany is disarmed
and occupied end France Is armed.
prosperous and backed by most OF the
other military states of the continent,
Britain cannot alone end this French
supremacy. A balance OF power In Eu-
rope under existing circumstances Is
possible only when the United States
is prepared to play great power role In
Europe either In exclusive association
with Britain or as a member OF the
League. Not nlilitarily but In all other
ways Europe is today in full combat.
The conference at London Is going to
be dominated by the issues OF that war
and the major purpose Of all contest
ants represented at that meeting Is &C.
ing to be to persuade us to take sides,
for with our aid either side can win de-
cisively, but not without IT.
(CopyriRht. 1920