Evening star., 1933-06-04
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itself, the thing which marks out the
ordered progress of society from the
day-to-day life Of the savage.
Civilization exists because We have
| learned how to use tomorrow, and credit
is the business expression for this Ca
pacity.
Now, If credit is the outstanding fact
| in the whole economic structure Of to-
Gay, it goes without saying that the
conditions of the restoration of credit
are the conditions Of the restoration OF
prosperity.
The outstanding condition is the as
surance of political confidence. 1t needs
no argument to show that anarchy and
disorder at home destroy the bases OF
financial credit.
At least half the business of the gov
eminent Of any country is to protect 1t
against these forces of disruption and
secure for the citizens the benefits Ct
law and order" the other half being
the protection of his individual liberty.
Hard Lessons Learned.
But it took two catastrophes, the
World War and the world depression, to
teach the lesson that international
anarchy and international disorder can
hold domestic credit down to such low
levels as practically to check progress
within each country, and even turn back
the clock in the case of those nations
which had gone ahead to develop theif
industry, commerce and finance along
the natural lines made possible for them
by superior wealth of resources or of
technical skill
In short, the nations that lead In
civilization have now to choose whether
they will 60 on with the process.
This Is not an argument: it is a
statement of fact. Europe is at the cross
roads; on one path lies the menace of
war, on the other the promise of
stability.
If it should choose the former, the
credit system of the world would go
to pieces, and it would be bold prophet
who would venture to predict the return
of prosperity to the United States under
those conditions.
1t is this situation which confronts
the United States at Geneva. The
success of the Geneva Disarmament
Conference Is an absolute prerequisite
for success in the World Economic Con-
ference
The problem of disarmament Is not
simply the lessening of armies and
navieS.
That is but the symbol of q political
readjustment of international relations,
the symbol of change in direction,
away from anarchy and toward interna-
tional stability-the kind of stability
which enables nations to calculate with
confidence upon the future.
Viewed from this angle, the disarma-
ment conference Is itself an economic
conference, not merely in the reduction
of the costs Of arnaments, but chiefly
because Of the fact that it measures the
growth Of political confidence in Europe,
upon which the credit of the world can
build and without which economic con-
ferences will never be able to come to
grips with fundamentals.
There Is no escaping this fact. Neither
distance nor neutrality can safeguard
a country from the effects of modern
war. In greater or less degree it dis
turbs the economic life of every nation,
spreading like contagion over neutrals
as well as belligerents.
This was so clearly shown by the
World War that it must henceforth
enter into the calculations of statesmen
who plan to keep their countries neutral
in any future war as well as those who
fear to be involved in its recurrence.
The short-lived wartime prosperity
obscured this fact, but in the long
term balances all nations suffered more
or less from the resulting maladjust-
ments and exhaustion.
The world Of finance Is an inter-
dependent world, and the threat or
menace of war is almost as disturbing
to credit as actual war itself.
1t is for this reason that the disarma-
ment conference, symbolizing the peace
movement of today, is also the symbol
Of an effort to establish the basis Of
prosperity.
Slow Progress Foreseen-
Now the outstanding problem in our
foreign relations today is how to bring
American support to the movement
toward political and economic con-
fidence without becoming too deeply
involved in the affairs Of other nations.
1t is not to be expected that this
adjustment can be worked out in any
single conference or by any single ad-
ministration.
Fortunately, the world of credit does
not demand so much as this of the
intelligence Of nations or of govern
ments.
Credit rests upon faith as we'll as upon
achievements, and If it can be clearly
seen that America and Europe are work.
ing constructively at the problem, that
faith which has carried the world along
in the past will guarantee the future
while we slowly realize it.
The greatest problem created by the
treaty of Versailles was not the Polish
Corridor, but the fact that place had
to be found on the old map Of Europe
for new nations
Thus many questions which were
formerly matters of domestic policy
within great empires were transferred