Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-05


Henry Ford No wonder that in the
eyes of the II nations inhabiting vast
stretches Of lands east OF Germany and
comprising more than a hundred mil
lion people-exclusive of Russia'S I5O-
900, 000-America has graduated into
class where 1t is no longer merely
huge container for the treasures of the
world but the heard of a new world, the
fascination of which would empty the
whole Of Eastern Europe, the Balkans
and Asia Minor of most Of its popula-
ton If by some miraculous power the
doors OF this country were thrown wide
open.
War One Of Factors.
The war was one of the great procur-
ers of the new machine age. 1t threw
together factory and farm hands in a
common trench, where they had an OPP
portuntty of comparing notes on the
merits of their work. This intercourse
broadened the outlook of the peasant
and implanted into his heart what NAV
be called the seeds of sacred dissatisfac-
ton. The regular hours of the factory
worker. combined with more adequate
remuneration and more freedom from
the whims of nature, made the peasant
realize the advantage OF town life and
During the war it was common say
ing in these eastern parts of Europe and
In the Balkans that when the bloodshed
would be over the congested circulation
Of the worlds trade arteries would be
cleared and the survivors would be as
sured decent living. This turned out
TO be a fallacy. The best grain-grow-
ing regions of Eastern Europe, the Bes-
sarabian region OF Rumania, the Banat
r,f
the Alfold of Hungary contain millions
OF farm hands actually starved into a
weakened physical condition as the re-
suit OF agricultural overproduction. The
agricultural crisis smoldering since the
END OF the war, had a great deal to do
with the rapid industrialization of East
ern Europe, the Balkans and Turkey.
the latest victims of the machine age.
TO take an example which is not
quite so extreme as it sounds: Twenty
years ago man of the bronze age If
ne had come to life after a long Rim
Van Wrinkle sleep. would have felt al
most at home among the shepherds of
the interior OF Serbia. He probably
would never have seen a railway train.
II by some playful mood of chance he
did see an automobile he would not
have been at loss to explain the ap-
parition-it was the carriage Of some
harmful spirit of the woods. He would
have recognized the novels in which he
lived, and the open fireside, useful for
cooking, heating and for the acrid
smoke without which his home would
nave had no flavor to him.
Now Halls Machine.
Today the peasant whose life fol-
lowed this pattern as recently as 1910
or 1911 is frequent visitor to the near
by town of Skoplje where he inspects
the latest models of agricultural ma
chinery with the critical eye of a con-
nolSseur. In 20 years the shepherd has
graduated from the bronze age into the
twentieth century His former attitude
toward the machine was that of utter
repugnance and hostility. The wooden
ploW had been good enough for his
IatherS and it would be good enough
Tor him, he used to think. Now he halls
the machine as savior from drudgery.
IL has transformed him into a social
belng, and he now enjoys all the adj
Vantages of cooperative action. If he
mas some land he gets together with his
nelgnbors and they rent the machines
needed Tor more intensive cultivation
of the soil,
HIS son wants to learn to read and
write, and he may even want to move
10 the town to become a man of i'm
portance, which his ancestors never
were. There is more life and light in
the town, and there he can see the
latest crook film, which will put him
IN touch with civilization and the high
Ideals OF the progressive West.
FOR centuries the slaves of Byzantine
mercenarieS and Mussulman janizaries
these millions of peasants are now
growing up into a consciousness of -hu-
man dignity. Politically they were
valueIess and they had as much to say
IN the government of the state as if
they were ifeless chattel
The new era has enhanced the DO
ntlcal significance of the masses in
theSe parts of Europe, despite contrary
tendencies in certain countries Al
through Turkey and JugoSlavia are
relationships in name as well as in
TACT, and Hungary and Bulgaria have
governments which are only nominaIly
responsible to parliament, even in these
countries the industrial civilization has
brought to light latent forces of self
determination, as compared with con-
d1tlonS before the war
The agricultural machine was the
greatest agency of the inception Of po-
htlcal awakening. Bulgaria's mar
tyred peasant tribune, Stambulisky, was
one of the most powerful proclaimers of
the new democracy. So was Stefan Ra-
ditch, bad boy of Serbia and idolized
nero OF Croatia. NJ. Michalache is
spokesman Of Rumania'S new demo-
racy In the parliaments Of these coun-
tries the delegates of the common peo-
pie are fairly we'll represented. They
may be often deluded by those who
have the advantage of higher educa-
ton, but they are learning their lesson
with quick-witted readiness.
Losing Picturesque Eccentricity.
The mass movement for a more
equitable distribution of landed prop
erty was the indirect outcome of the
industrial civilization. Up to the end
of the war landed property in this part
of the world had been closely held by
privileged few. Then came the great
awakening, bloodleSS revolution, than
which none has been more successful.
With the exception of Hungary, in
which feudal land conditions still pre-
vail with few correctiyes, the peasant
democracy is marching hand in hand
with the industrial democracy toward
the light reckoning to the East from
the West
Under the, impact of the machine age
Europe IS losing much of its picturesque
eccentricity. At recent ethnographical
exposition at Prague. the fact was for
chilly brought to mind that the machine
is the deadly enemy of the native cos
TUNES, which are being gradually dis
placed by the drab garb of the factory
worker.
Before the great change the Slovak-
ian, Hungarian and Pennsylvania peas
ants had given free rein to their artistic
-