Evening star., 1932-12-11

cure the recovery of international credit.
Either to wipe the slate clean or to ex-
tract the last penny from the debtor
would not by itself bring back healthy
condition to a world of business whose
normal balances of trade are far greater
than the immediate payments involved
in the liquidation of the war. The only
hope for re-establishing credit is to deal
with credit, and that means dealing
with political as well as economic credit,
for these two cannot be dissociated
henceforth.
So far we as well as Europe have never
dealt with the problems on such funda-
mental terms. The time has come to
do so. Let there be an armiStice in the
war debt controversy and new peace
conference, not to tear down the struc-
ture of peace created by the last one,
but to make it workable by applying the
experience of the last IL years. The
League of Nations must be strengthened,
not weakened, for if it were to disappear
its place would be taken by secret alli-
ances, with war as an absolutely in
evitable consequence. 1t should be
strengthened, however, in ways that
would permit the helpful functioning of
the United States without involving us
in quarrels in which we have no part.
The unity of civilization does not call
for uniformity in the obligations of ma
tions to each other, as the history Of
the postwar years has shown. This
situation, with variety as the key to
unity, is one In which America has had
unique experience in the structure and
functioning of Federal State. In the
world community of nations there should
be varying degrees of responsibility, more
than is provided for in the existing cove
nant of the League of Nations.
The members of the League, there
fore, need to reconsider their relation
to it so as to make it really capable Of
dealing with the problems of the Polish
Corridor or minorities or disarmament.
Above all the United States needs, more
than any other nation, to readjust its
relationship with the League.
That this can be done is no mere day
dream or wishful thinking has been
clearly shown by the government of M.
Herriot. In giving a new and more prac-
tical turn to the BRAND plan for Fed
Grafton of Europe, asking of America no
positive aid in policing Europe, but ex-
pecting of it only that it will not make
goes to war in violation of the Kellogg
pact, the government of France was OBJ
viously trying to lay the basis not only
of disarmament, but of the whole inter-
national structure in terms so adjust
able as to meet American conditions.
Unfortunately, project prepared as
a basis of discussion was treated in our
press as though it were Frances last
word 1t was not necessarily so intended,
and certainly. need not have been so
treated. Absorbed in our own affairs
and narrowly concentrating on the
arithmetic of debts and ornaments, we
have failed so far to see that the oppor-
tunity has at last arrived for re-estab-
fishing not only credit, but Americas
place in the great task of international
cooperation at the League of Nations.
THE agenda Of new peace conference
would therefore include tariffs and
disarmament in addition to war debts
for us and war debts and reparationS for
Europe. But none Of these settlements
will really save the credit structure of
the world unless there is provision in
the structure of international relations
for political as well as economic stability.
This cannot come by freezing political
can come by freezing financial relations.
The supreme need is not international
police, but the machinery Of interna-