Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-22
BY FRANK H. SIMONDS.

ENEVA.-lt Is lar CRY from
the Polish Corridor to the Pal
7 ace of the League of Nations.
~ But after many days spent
along Bleeding Frontiers to
employ the recent phrase of the Ger
man foreign minister, nothing Is more
natural than to turn back from pres
ent and prospective backgrounds and
visit the center of all European peace
effort, to seek after some general esti-
mate OF the whole situation.
Such an investigation was made easy
by the fact that the Midwinter Coun-
ell of the League of Nations recently
foreign ministers of various countries,
thus affording unique opportunity to
get a conspectuS. The article which
follows represents the results of a Sc
ries of conversations with more than
half of these ministers. together with
public men and journalists of various
nations,
At the outset it is essential to set
forth the unanimous judgment of all
European public men whom I encoun-
tered, that war Is for the present, and
from the field of news. out of the ques-
ton. For this consensus two reasons
are invariably presented: First, that no
country save France could face even
the preliminary expenses Of conflict,
and. second, that all people, including
the French, preserve that horror of war
which was born of bitter experience in
the last struggle.
Crisis Reached.
When, however, one has eliminated
what has seemed to many American OBJ
servers the most immediate and con-
siderable danger in contemporary
Europe, it is necessary to emphasize at
once the general view that, notwith-
standing the absence of any date for a
next war, Europe is today In the
midst Of the most acute and dangerous
crisis since 1914
This crisis is only political in its eff
fectS and Is actually to be traced di-
rectly to the economic depression which
in Europe, in direct contrast to the
United States, has called into question
not alone the stability of various gov
ernments, but has raised lasting ques-
lions as to the future Of the whole DO
litical and economic structure. AS a
consequence of the economic depres-
sion peoples have lost confidence in
their public men, in the existing forms
of government, in the prospect of or
derby and normal recovery. and have
been caught IN vast and perhaps in
creasing numbers by the propaganda Of
| those who urge violent remedies and
advocate various forms of revolution
and methods of which Russian Bolshe-
vism and italian Fascism are the most
familiar
Thus. instead Of one general or va
rious local wars, European statesmen
are today most fearful of domestic rev.
| olutions which can produce upheaval In
various countries, large and small. But
although the general crisis thus resolves
| itself into numerous local crises. one
circumstance is everywhere unmistak-
able. Economic depression, which has
made war almost impossible has, at the
same time, produced an unparalleled
explosion of nationalism in almost every
country. Or, to be more exact, while
In some countries the depression has
produced an explosion of extreme ma
tionalism, these explosions have in
others aroused sense of apprehension
and danger which has ended In similar
consequences.
Arms Are Improved.
Thus, on the one hand, there has
been an tncalculable multiplication Of
the barriers to trade and commerce,
growing out of the domestic legislation
designed to protect home markets, while,
on the other, there has been a growing
insiStence upon expanding and perfect
ing all forms of armament. The first
Of these circumstances has ended in &C
centuating the economic crisis by put
ting term to all forms of cooperation:
the latter has automatically closed all
present prospect of progress toward dis
armament or, indeed, any limitation of
ornaments.
All of this was wildly disclosed when
the foreign ministers of League men,
Der nations came here in the closing
days of January to discuss the two
major problems of disarmament con-
ference and of a United States of Eu-
rope. Mere contact between these
ministers disclosed the transparent fact
that the atmosphere in Europe at this
moment was such that nothing could
be done in either direction and, without
exception, the ministers themselves
confessed to a sense of almost unlimited
depression in discovering at close range
the extent of the divisions in Europe
at the present hour.
Better war than disarmament con-
ference now" was the bitter comment
Of one foreign minister. and bis OBJ
vious meaning was that any conference.
until the general state of mind had
changed, would lead to struggles be-
tween nations which could only have
grave and enduring consequences for
European peace.
Moreover, in this connection, one
must note the further detail that in
the present domestic crises, foreign