Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-09-07
WORLD WATCHES BRAND
AND BATTLE AT GENEVA
Future Peace or War Is Believed to Be
Hanging in Balance at League
Assembly Tomorrow.

much to allay present European malaise
Is thus rather slight. The League re-
mains fatally handicapped by the fact
that the real peril to European peace Il
outside its control. The demand Of
certain states (the losers of the war) for
a revision of peace treaties and of exist
ing frontiers and the determination Of
other states (the victors) to retain their
present limits at all costs automatically
closes the door to League action.
Drift Cannot Continue.
On the other hand, it is manifest that
European craftsmanship cannot per.
NIT the present disquieting drift to con.
tinue indefinitely without confeSSing
bankruptcy and counting casatrophe.
Sooner or later If cooperation Is not
achieved in some fairly definite fashion,
division into rival alliances such as ex-
listed before 1914 is unacceptable. The
states dissatisfied with the existing
order and those content are bound to
fuse in opposing camps Tin fact, the
satisfied powers already have joined In
a series of alliances) and then new
war will be a daily possibility.
Today there are about $4,000 900
French, Poles, Czechs, Jugoslavs, Ru-
manianS and Belgians, who are salts
fled with their present frontiers, but
feel that they must guard them because
of the expressed purpose Of an almost
equal number of Germans, Hungarians.
Bulgarians, Lithuanians and even Ital-
ians, who demand revision as an
antecedent condition to assured order
and complete adjustment. So far the
defeated powers, having been forcibly
disarmed and in GermanyS case also
occupied by foreign armies, have been
unable to combine of even to act Sepa"
rately, and without an ally Italy has
been powerleSs.
Returning 10 Normal.
But Europe is getting back to normal.
Germany Is now free and nothing can
prevent the Germans and their as
sociates of the war from joining the
Italians, If they choose, to form a new
system of alliances gravely challenging
to France and perhaps surprising 1t In
manpower, If Russia is brought into the
combination. And it is no secret that
italy has made suggestions at Berlin
and that certain Germans have re-
preached their government for turning
q cold shoulder to Fascist invitation.
At Geneva, then, Europe manifestly
will appear at the crossroads. OF
course It would be inexact to assert
that any decisive turn will be taken at
this Assembly or indeed during the
present year. On the other hand, 1t Is
at least true that the unmistakable
drift Of Europe toward the old order, or
perhaps more exactly the old anarchy,
has already created alarm amongst most
thoughtful observers.
Millions Want Justice"
Europe wants peace. All peoples are
az one In this fundamental desire. But
peace for q vast collection Of millions
means q peace Of justice attainahle
| only by the revision of the decisions or
Paris. Yet such revision means war Tor
other millions, and as the years pass
each group Is becoming more and more
insistent upon its own views.
If, too, you 60 below the surface IN
Paris, London, Brussels, Berlin or war
saw. you will find more real anxiety
than at any moment since the eve or
the occupation of the Ruhr. Locarnop
the Kellogg pact, even the League itSelis
all have proved illusions In so far as It
was expected or hoped that they would
supply a solid guarantee OF order ana
tranquility.
Whole World Watches.
In this atmosphere the Assembly
meets again with the whole weird
watching closely. And once more
BRAND seems bound to be the outstand-
ing figure, as he has been In SO many
great Sessions before But today BRAND
stands alone. His great associates OF
Locarno have vanished. Stresemann Is
dead. and Austen Chamberlain has been
repudiated by his fellow countrymen.
Moreover, the Breton's home front Is
Enthusiastically grumbling. Thus 1t may
turn out that he Is fighting his final
battle. Indeed, the episode of Cannes
may be repeated, and with his proposals
of European corporation still incoHn-
plete he may 60 out as he did in 1922,
when Poincare upset the BRAND min
istry and cleared the road for the
Rufr.