Evening star., 1932-12-11

said IN public he has In all Likelihood
said with equal firmness and clarity to
the statesmen with whom he has been
dealing, and in this he has been inter
preting not only the policies so clearly
enunciated by the present administra-
ton, but those of the American people
as whole, without regard to party.
Even the recent statement of leading
American business men brings diSarma-
ment into the war debt problem as a
vital issue confronting the business
world. This is a new note and a hopeful
one, an indication of the will to peace
in the United States. But it's pacific
trend should not be allowed to obscure
the more immediate fact that in the
view of practical men of affairs the
preparation for war is now seen to be
a fundamental obstacle to the re-estab-
lishment of International credit, which,
in turn, is the condition Tor a return of
prosperity-the one practical reason for
dealing with the war debt problem.
A years negotiations at Geneva, how
ever have shown that the problem of
disarmament can never be solved on it's
own terms any more than that Of the
war debts One cannot ask the debtors
of the United States-that is, the former
enemies of Germany-to disarm without
regard to what is going on in Germany.
THE French are right in claiming that
at bottom the problem of disarma-
ment is not one of mathematical ratios,
but of fundamental security. Indeed,
the German argument that the disarma-
ment forced on Germany in the treaty
of Versailles should also apply, in prirl-
ciple at least, to all allied powers, might
be turned the other way round. 1t
might be argued that mathematical dis
armament, even to the extent imposed
on Germany, does not make neighboring
nations secure so long as there is
grievance to be nursed, such as that
which calls out the warlike spirit of
young Germany and creates quasi-mili-
tary organizations in hardly disguised
violation of the treaty itself.
The Nationalist movement in Germany
is as much a part of the disarmament
problem as the ornaments themselves.
No nation is likely to disarm if there
is any cause for fear that it may be
attacked when defenSeless. To disarm
in the face of the menace Of war is
criminal folly; disarmament is justified
only in proportion as the policies and
the institutions of peace supplant those
of war. Seen in this light, disarmament
is the parallel in the field of politics
to debt adjustment in the field of credit;
for behind them both lies the inexorable
fact that there must be confidence in
the character and calculability in the
policies of nations.
Settlement of the war debt problem,
therefore, carries us not only into the
problem of disarmament, but beyond it
to an analysis of the conditions across
the Rhine and across the Vistula. The
outstanding obstacle to the stabilization
of Europe and the consequent strength
ening of its credit system lies In the fact
that Germany seems to be giving up
hope that the redress of its grievances
can be secured by the existing structure
of peace which centers at Geneva.
Young Germany, at least, voices its
discomfort by the threat Of force. 1t is
sheer blindness not to connect the po-
litical and moral problems presented by
resurgent Germany, intent upon recov-
efing it's place in the sun, with that other
problem, seemingly remote, of the settle
ment of war debts at Washington; just
as the war debt problem bears directly
upon the question of tariffs Tariffs, in