Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-05
INDUSTRIALISM CROWS
IN EASTERN EUROPE
Balkans and Turkey Latest Victims.
Peasants Once of Bronze Age
Seek New Standards.


concerned. They share the opinion that
the Balkans were Europe's traditional
power magazine because Of the tempta-
ton they offered to the industrially de-
! veloped nations to exploit them as the
happy hunting ground of their hyper
/ trophied ambitions. There may enSue
/ some strange vibrations in the old
balance of power as soon as the for
| merely backward countries have fully
1 asserted their industrial independence.
/ A new affliction--"Western minded
| ness'-is one OF the Curious symptoms
| OF the new state OF affairs. No country
is willing to admit that geographically
| it is situated in eastern Europe or in
| the Balkans. For foreigner to Sug-
/ gest in Bucharest, the capital of
| Rumania, that the country Is In eastern
| Europe is decidedly tRctless, no matter
what the map may disclose. Since
Jugoslavia overfiows into central
Europe, the whole country considers it
self as central European power. The
admission of the fact that nearly the
entire modern Turkey is in Asia
amounts to high treason in nationalist
cally bigoted circles. Even Bulgaria,
situated in the center of the Balkans,
likes to draw misleading geographical
conclusions from the fact that during
the war she was on the side Of the
| central powers.
Nowhere Is the Turkish proverb that
zone man is not sufficient food for two
| lions" more true than in the countries
afflicted by an excess of machine men,
! tally. Consequently, agriculture is be-
| ginning to suffer at the expense OF in
! dustry. The result is lack of balance
which has most disconcerting effect
! on the victims of the new Industrial
revolution. In a way this is variant
of the circumstances attendant upon
England's industrial troubles at the
end of the eighteenth century. Then
the dissatisfaction found vent in efforts
to destroy the machine. Now the dis
satisfaction has been transposed into
the more rarefled regions Of the popu-
lations spiritual life.
The increasing number Of suicides fol-
lowing the wake Of the machine char
acterizes the approach of the Industrial
era in the agricultural parts Of Europe
| Formerly serenely disguised with his
| plight, persisttng in lethargy and
inertia, the peasant now sees himself
exposed to an unwonted stirring of
| vitality to which he has not yet been
in position to adjust himself.
Craze for Games and Alcohol.
The amusement craze, which preachers
Of morality find such eloquent words to
criticize, lis another manifestation Of the
/
this is coupled with. q craze for games
and alcohol.
The harmful effects Of the industrial
civilization are the everyday concerns
| OF the statesmen Of Europe. Ona %
/ these noXiouS outgrowthS'> is the way
| potential factory workers are attracted
! to the cities The advance guards of
the industrial reserve army and of the
'Lumpenproletariat" are filing up the
81 hi -lNraWz e.NN~
| industrial activity. Amid the novels of
the excess factory hands the agents of
SweatShops recruit young men who have
run away from home in search of q
mirage. Child labor in such sections is
! rampant and industrial exploitation
knows no bounds. Not long ago a large
poster Of the clothing workers of Buda-
pest protested against the refusal of
/ their employers to grant their men an
increase of wages amounting to one
! filler an hour. One filler is small frac-
| ton of l cent.
/ Signor MuSsolini is making an effort
! to forestall the formation of an indus
trial proletariat by enforcing a sort of
compulsory sojourn which ties country
] people to their present place Of resi-
| dence. The lesser dictatorS are emulat-
ing this measure, but the question re-
mains open as to whether their viii Is
sufficient to overcome the force Of q
movement which is assuming the pro-
portions of an elementary natural phe-
nomenon.
The political atmosphere, already
overcharged by the machine age. Is fur
ther electrified by such complications as
the question Of trusts and cartels. The
| other day the Hungarian Premier,
Count Bethlen, announced his decision
to appoint commission to inquire into
| the problem of industrial combinations.
I TT -
/ dustr1al civilization, such problems are,
to say the least, unusual and discon-
/ certing.
/ American capital is playing an inordi-
! nately large part in the building up of
/ the new industries of Europe The glam-
| orous example of the United States, I'M
dimmed by recent reverses, has been
an important factor in bringing forth
/ the forces resulting in induStrtaliZation.
Gates Of America Closed.
| Before the war America absorbed O
large part of the surplus population of
the countries in question. Now the
! gates of America are closed, and the
surplus population Is an even more
| burning problem. For the excess of
| hands new opportunities must be Gre
ated, and industrial expansion offers a
| solution. America has shown itself
ready to finance the machine age by
countries that need them. In several
cases the condition Of granting the
loans was that American products must
be purchased for their equivalent. This
| remark applies specially to the ambi-
tious projects of canal building and
irrigation schemes of the Balkan coun-
tries.
Quite recently France entered the
field in competitive spirit and with a
view to contesting Americas supremacy
as the idol of the new countries. The
projected credit of $500 ,0OO, 900 to Po-
land, Rumania and JugoSlavia Is q
part of the stratagem which would
strengthen the financial bonds uniting
France with her political allies In the
East.
However, the question as TO who viii
| finance these gigantic projects is Of
secondary Importance. What is essen
tial is the fact that q motley crowd
of about 00000000 people living in
IL states in Eastern Europe and in the
Balkans has made an suspicious start
in the new industrial era. How their
| project will affect the Russian expert
ment and the futures Of the old-estab-
lished industrial nations of the world
| is a matter of conjecture. The machine
| age has come to stay and to influence
| the lives of these millions, and its in
duence cannot be oVereSttmated.
1