Evening star., 1933-10-01

in the redlVlS1On OF Europe between the
victorious and vanquished states. In
fact, return to the complete political
anarchy of the pre-Locorno period was
inevitable. Moreover. the London Naval
Conference served to disclose and even
which added still another complication.
In the United States the Hoover ad-
ministration stubbornly refused to rec
ognize that conditions in Europe had
become so acute that all hope Of re-
duction Of ornaments had become vain.
Thus American influence was exerted
powerfully but futilely to insure the as
sembling of the Arms Conference and.
after its visible collapse in the opening
weeks. to keep it still in being. And
a considerable section of American pub
lie opinion not only applauded this
course, but saw in it promise Of
achievement.
In reality, the shadow of new war
was already spreading over the Con-
thent. The progress Of the Nazis and
the undisguiSed purposes OF their pro-
gram, which demanded recovery OF all
the territory Germany lost as a result
Of the World War, produced q state
Of mind all over Europe completely
| barring the way to any reduction Of
armaments on the part of armed pow
ers now threatened by German pur-
poses.
Frantic Search for Formula.
Last Summer the Disarmament Con-
ference degenerated into a frantic
search for some formula which could
disguise failure and permit adjourn
| ment. France urged, Britain and the
United States in due course adopted a
| plan for international inspection and
| supervision Of national ornaments.
But, while Germany demanded imme-
diate equality In right to armaments
and eventual equality in fact, her
neighbors saw in this the determination
to arm up to the level of her neigh
bors and these neighbors insisted upon
q long period of probation under in
ternational inspection before actual re-
duction began.
London, Paris and Rome were equally
well aware that Germany was already
arming, in defiance Of the provisions
of the treaty of Versailles. They also
realized that, while Germany at the
moment was eager to escape a war
temporarily out Of the question for
her, she was in fact educating her
population to prepare for an eventual
struggle and basing her policy upon
projects which could only be won by
violence and af&er successful struggle.
In this situation the nations men,
aced by German purpose, but safe today
through superior armarnents and by
virtue Of their military compacts, con-
sistently refuse to modify single de-
tail OF their program Of ornaments,
save as such modification is accom-
panied by other guarantees Of their
security For the French, Polish, Czech,
Belgian peoples the Nad program spells
war and threatens ruin. War In the
minds Of all Of these peoples is now
only question Of time If the Hitler
regime continues to control the Reich.
And in such situation to reduce their
own ornaments is only to hasten the
day OF German attack, since the Ger
mans will not under any circumstances
modify their policy of territorial ex-
pansion at the expense Of their neigh
bors.
The struggle which is going on over
Austria Is clear evidence of German
purpose. Today it would be impossible
for the Nazis to make any effort to
recover Alsace or Pomorze. War with
France and Poland would then come
instantly and the Germans are in no
posture to face a new battle on two
fronts. But Austria can be attacked
by thousand means which are now
military and she is too weak to reply
herself dangerously. Nominally at
least, too. the issue is between Berlin
and Vienna and not between Berlin
and Paris.
One Of Vital Items.
But the Austro- German union is only
one item in the Na1 program and all
are equally vital. Thus France Is de-
Tending Alsace and Poland the Cor
rldor in Austria, while CZechoslovakia
is similarly defending Bohemia and
Italy is beginning to manifest anxiety
alike for the Upper Adige and for
Trieste. All of which boils down to
the fact that nations will not disarm
when their territories and existence are
under challenge just as individuals will
not put aside their revolvers while
their lives and property are in danger.
AS long as Norman Davis or any
other American Ambassador at large
cannot promise American military aid
to replace French or Polish regiments
if, after these are disbanded, German
armies enter A1sace or Posen, his plea
for arms reduction will fall on deaf
ears. Short of promising physical aid,
he would have to prove the absence Of
physical danger. But every day the
NaziS supply fresh proof Of the exis-
tence of danger in a visible and men
acing form.
What the Nazis seek is to take terri
tories from their neighbors. In those
territories are large numbers OF French,
Poles, Czechs. What they would do to
these populations after annexation,
their treatment of their own Jews in
dicates. What these peoples feel In the
presence of this patent peril can be
imagined without difficulty. What they
must also feel when they are urged by
representatives of county remote
from peril and impregnable to attack,
to abandon their own means of defense
without any promise of help If disaru-
ament invites disaster is not hard to
conjecture. What answer they will
make to such urgings can be deduced
from recent experience, but that an
swer dooms the Disarmament Con-
ference.
(Copyright. 1933)