Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-14
Cooperating for Peace
Unity Balance System Are Optional Europe

ago at Vcrdun again erupted into flame
in 1914.
1t would not be true to assert that
Britain has always taken the side OF
the weak from chivalrouS motives
though this had been the case more
than once. We live, as in the past, by
our shipping, and when our maritime
safety Is threatened the best available
means have had to be taken to avert
the menace to our existence. That has
been the instructive policy of the past
but with the possibility Of future and
even more ruinous wars ahead it Is our
obvious duty and interest to explore
every possible policy which might give
US equal security at less risk. I think
we can at once rule out any idea OF
the resurrection Of Holy Roman EN-
pire, which, by imposing its will on
the nations, could weld them into a
great and peaceful whole. Yet some
sure path to safety must be found If
We wish to avoid a return to pre-war
conditions, with all their attendant
dangers of ever-increasing ornaments
and Of national propaganda.
Cantons Bound Selves.
We have before us an example which,
having been q surprising success on a
small scale, might surely be attempted
on an international one. So far back
as 1891 the three insignificant cantons
Of Schwyz Uri and Unterwalden bound
themselves into a federation in defense
OF their rights and liberties. Freedom
loving men of the Alps drew up a docu-
ment the words of which have a mean
ing for US today as vital as when they
were first drafted.
Honor and the public veal are pro-
NOTED when leagues are concluded for
the proper establishment of peace and
quiet" There is a truth which we are
too apt to overlook. Seeing the malice
Of the ages" the manifest continues.
we have promised in good
faith to assist each other with every
aid, with every counsel with
might and with main. against one and
ali who may afflict on any one of them
violence or injury" Action was speci-
fed for each attack on their liberties,
and from this humble origin sprang
the sanest, most stable and the most
democratic government OF Europe-the
Swiss republic.
There We have our model. But have
We the courage, the self-sacrifice, the
common sense to adapt it to the urgent
mood Of the moment? So far as I see
it. our choice must lie between this and
a return to that policy entailed by the
phrase balance Of power"-a phrase
pregnant with the possibility of disaster.
All Against War.
If you were to ask the average Briton
whether he were in favor of war. the
answer would be an emphatic negative.
So, too. feel convinced. would be the
reply of the average American, French
man, German. Spaniard and Italian
Here and there are fire-eaters. in every
country there are fervent patriots
who believe that they can serve the
cause best by DANGEROUSLY preparing fol-
war. But they are increasingly in the
minority, for We are still too close to
the last holocaust to be able to believe
their doctrines. Britain, If only from
her geographical position, must inev-
itably shape her policy to a great ex-
tent in accordance with what occurs in
Europe, and she is compelled by duty
and interest to support the League OF
Nations as inevitably as she was forced
to subscribe to the balance Of power.