Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-18
A Disentangling Alliance.

into history with such high speed
during the past thirty days that the
worlds sense Of the important Is in
grave danger Of becoming faded But
there Is no hyperbole in saying that
developments Of the current week end,
in Paris and London. are fraught with
more Of moment than any Of their i'm
mediate predecessors. with the possible
exception of the Hoover moratorium
plan, which touched them off.
Apart from the concrete questions on
the verge of decision, none outstrips In
significance the plunging Of the United
States. full panoplied. into the prob
lens clamoring for solution in Europe.
With the dispatch Of Secretaries Slim
son and Mellon TO the council Of Euro
pean ministers converting In London on
Monday, our twelve-year period OF
vaunted Isolation" from the concerns
of the Old World vanishes into the dis
card. Men talk of the unwisdom Of our
getting into" European affairs, We are
in them. 1t is to extract us from them
with the greatest possible dispatch and
profit to ourselves that the two chief
members of the Presidents cabinet are
about to pool their counsel with that
of European statesmen for general in
ternational good. 1t Is not an en-
tangling alliance which We are about
to enter 1t Is a disentangling alliance.
Mr.. Hoover has indicated as strongly
aLos tva
don will confne themselves to DELHI
erations over the economic" emer-
gency which has arisen in Central
Europe" It Is, of course, the height of
folly to think that any such emergency
can be met wholly oblivious to political
considerations. To do 30 would be like
celebrating the sesquicentennial of York
town without regard to q certain event
In which Lord CORVALLIS played con-
spicuous role.
American public opinion meantime
should not Jump to the conclusion that
because the Hoover administration is
participating in q discussion which can
not help ranging over European politi-
cal issues, the sacred honor of the
United States Is on the verge Of being
compromised. or any other action is
imminent against which the American
people would promptly and vigorously
rebel. Bismarck, on famous occa-
sion. when Europe was about to in
dulge in one of its periodical wars, es-
sayed and enacted the role Of honest
broker"
Perhaps 1t will fall to the lot of Sec
retaries Stimson and Mellon to play
that part at London. No country in
the world occupies 50 strategic a posi-
ton at this hour as the United States
As the outstanding creditor nation, our
influence Is unparalleled. 1t Is far more
likely to be exerted on the Thames next
week as conciliator than for the pur-
pose Of embroiling us in what Senator
Glass gloomily calls 1.-The maelstrom of
this European panic"
Today at Paris German Chancellor
have their heads together with French
Premier Laval and Foreign Minister
BRAND. Their combinations will serve
as a curtain-raiser for the seven-power
ministerial conference at London. Sec
rotary Stimson is in Paris and will
doubtless be at least an unofficial OBJ
server Of the Franco German converse
tons These are intended Ito lay the
groundwork for the conditions under
which French capital will participate In
RI
the Germans. Latest reports indicate
that such loan would be merged with
the existing s1oO,0oo,OOO credit Just re-
newed for ninety days The entire sum
would then be funded into a ten-year
transaction repayable at the rate Of
$50, 900 900 year, beginning next year,
when reparation annuities are to be
renewed at the expiration of the Hoover
moratorium.
Presumably the French political de-
mands" which have stirred ire and
crystallized opposition in Germany will
be dealt with in Paris and ironed out
before the London meeting. Franco
German amity is the bedrock on which
further international aid TO the Reich
must be based There is now definite
talk of the abandonment of political
terms branded Illuminating and unde-
batable by the Germans and of purely
business conditions such as the mort
gaging of the German customs receipts
as collateral for the transaction at pres
ent In contemplation.