Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-05
PROSPERITY GIVES
FRANCE ADVANTAGE
Dole Required by Only co. 900
Against 100000
in Germany -
This is the second OF four articles By
Frank Simon0s on Europe and the woflo
crisis.
stoopyrisht. 1881; Mcclure Newspaper
BY FRANK STMONDS.
M--EconoYmic Conditions.


are dominated by politics to the ruin OF
both, what shall one say OF the eco
nomic conditions themselves? And mere
perhaps, the most satisfactory method OF
answer is to look briefly at the situation
In the several countries which are most
considerable both in themselves ana In
their relation to the generaU European
problem.
In any such survey the British TACT
must come first, for in all my contl-
mental contacts no statement was more
Frequently to be hard than that which
ascribed to the present state Of Britain
the explanation Of much OF Europes
contemporary misfortune. AS to the
details of the English situation, these
are far too we'll known to need emphasis
here. AS q result Of combination OF
circumstances, some transient some en-
during as a consequence Of economic
changes which we're already taking place
before the war, because Of the effects OF
the war and OF the upheavals in the Far
East, because of imperial dihicultles ana
domestic misfortune, Britain Is passing
through the most acute crisis IN ner
long history and there Is no present sign
Of an end Of the strain.
AS a consequence, Britain for the
time being cannot perform her TWO
great and traditional services In the
world. She Is too weak internationally
To exercise a modsrattng influence In
European councils and she rs incapable
of maintaining that free money market
to which all nations could resort 10 9o-
to make political surrenders. And this
second circumstance Is at least as great
q disaster for Europe as for Britain
Situations Peculiar Aspect.
Acute as is the island crisis, it is,
however, essential to perceive that IN
two respects at least the British situa-
tion differs radically IRON that Of every
other considerable European state with
the exception of France. First, the
vast pre-war Accommodations OF capital
have provided Britain with resources
which have so far enabled her to en-
dure a strain of worldwide proportions
successfully; second, the economic CRISIS
has not vet brought the smallest comes
tic political disturbance. Financially
and politically Britain remains as SOUND
ass rock, even if economically and COM
mercially she is the hardest hit OF ali
nations which participated In the war.
with Germany the situation is just
the opposite. AS a result OF the war
she lost all her liquid capital. Again,
the strain Of war and postwar years
has produced a domestic political unrest
and crisis which can still lead to events
OF utmost gravity. Yet by contrast, both
before and since the war, Germany mas
built up her economic life where Britain
has permitted hers. to stagpate. Today
the German industrial machine
tuned up to a pitch of effciency equal
to the American, and German methods
rival, if at points they do not surpaSs
ours.
But, II Germany has superb ma
chine and a magnificent technique she
has no money, no working capital, no
LIQUID reserves. And thus she hSa
within herself no resources which
would enable her to surmount the
staggering consequences OF the world
wide crisis. In a word, while there
remains to Germany suficient strength
to pull herself out of the appalling
mess incident to lost war and post
war disaster she is helpless in the face
of the third trial, which Is the presents
depression.
In Germany, too, the effects OF the
economic depression are rneastTably acc
centuAted by the necessity to pay $780,
O00, 900 in PREPARATIONS annually. Since
these payments can no longer be
financed by foreign borrowing. in
tensive production is compelled, with
inevitable reduction of domestic stand
ards Of living and forced expectation
closely approximating dumping and
tending to dislocate foreign markets.
= Capital and Labor at Odds.
Again, the crisis which has brought
the total OF unemployed almost to the
100000 mark has accumulated all the
old antagonism between capital and
labor. But what is most significant is
that It has induced psychological
crisis almost more dangerous than the
economic. The great mass of the Ger
man people see national and personal
suffering. not as the result of world
wide catastrophe. but as the direct
consequence of the treaty of Versailles.
There is the settled conviction that
Germany has been sentenced to death
by her conquerorS, by France chiefly,
and Is, in fact, sinking into irredeem-
able ruin.
The two factors, domestic unrest |
caused by economic depression and pas |
sionate resentment OF imagined foreign |
persecution, have led to the great IN |
crease in numbers In both extremist |
parties, the Communists and the Ma |
tional Socialists. One seeks to precipi- |
tate a revolution on the Russian style, /
foreign policy which can only lead to |
disaster under existing circumstances.
Thus, while Germany today Is by /
natural advantage the strongest state in 4
Europe, and industrially the best Or
ga1ized and equipped unit. It is finan-
cially and socially the weakest; and al
though it is true that conditions have |
visibly and materially improved since |
the f1rst of this year, found general |
agreement all over Central Europe as
late as May that it was impossible to |
exclude the possibility Of civil war If |
the worldwide economic depression
we're prolonged unduly. Such strife |
would certainly not end in the triumph
of BolShevism. but 1t could easily post
pone German recovery disastrously.
AS for Italy, here the situation is more
obscure. Financially, economically and |
induStrially Italy Is not great power,
despite her considerable population and
her political Importance. Il She has no |
native raw materials. no profitable |
colonies, no accumulation Of capital |
Like Germany now, she has always bsen
a borrowing country. Her single great !
resource has been a large supply of
cheap labor, which she exported to
North and South America before the
war, proflting largely by remittances
from this source to redress her unfavor-
able trade balance.
Since the war, however, this resource
has lost importance. The American i'm
migration law has closed the American
market to italian labor, and either be-
cause of governmental or natural
causes the same thing has occurred
generally. Only France has remained a
considerable market for the Italian
emigrant, but there the Italians have
rapidly become denationalized and so
lest to their native land. -
Condition Hurts Mussolini.