Evening star., 1933-02-19
HITLER GESTURE TO ITALY,
INDICATES NEW ALLIANCE
Action Imperils World Economic Con-
ference and Demonstrates Final
Bankruptcy of League.


Britain, Germany. Italy and France
wholly reminiscent of the pre-war con-
cert of Europe which broke down at
the turn of the century when Germany
began to challenge Britain on the high
seas. Seeing that the League is now
eliminated as a real factor, the British
have been trying to avert this open
separation of Europe into rival alli-
anceS by another sort of combination.
Determined to Change Map.
But the difficulty lies in the fact
that any sort Of combination in the
League or out must be based on the
purpose to prevent war and thus, in
the end, resolve itself into a guarantor
OF the status quo because only by war
can there be treaty revision And
Germany and Italy, although they
wotIid be glad to play in such a COM
bination temporarily since France,
separated from her smaller allies, would
lose her predominant role, are deter
mined to bring about a change in the
existing order of the European map.
What Is little tragic is the fact
that at the moment when Europe is
entering upon a new phase in post
war history, which must have colossal
consequences, American appreciation of
| the situation is almost entirely OBJ
| scured by the relatively trivial matter
OF the debts. The matter is trivial be-
cause neither the intergovernmenta
debts nor the huge private loans we
| nave made In Europe Will be worth con-
S1dering even as decorations or wall
paper if the present drift of Europe
toward new general convulsion con-
! tinues.
| The spectacle Of American states
| men on and off Capitol Hill debating
solemnly the question as to the amount
OF reduction of the debts and the COM
| penSating concessions to be asked in
currency and tariff directions at a mo-
ment when Europe is moving toward
fresh stage of international chaos
and anarchy is bewildering in the ex-
| treme. The idea that it would be pos
sible to make the smallest progress in
an international conference to deal
with problems Of recovery while po-
litical d1sintegration goes on at the
present rate hardly bears serious ex-
animation.
If Europe is now to break up into
| coalitions the stage to be passed be-
| fore it arrives at a new general war
cannot be considerable. And if in
the meantime Rome, Paris, Berlin
and Warsaw, to say nothing of Vienna,
Prague, Budapest and Belgrade, along
with Sofia and Bucharest, are to have
their attention concentrated on the
diplomatic moves which are inevitable
between opposing alliances, how can
one expect economic or financial mat
tiers I'd be considered at a meeting
nations?
In any international conference
which might be called today, all ma
terial factors would be subordinated
to the political, In the matter of
the restoration of deprecated curren-
c1es. for example, nothing could be
done on the continent without France.
But French aid today as in the time
of the ill-fated moratorium, would be
conditional upon political concessions.
In a word, France would not assist
Austria or Hungary back to normalcy
simply to make them stronger in the
anti-French combination. Exactly in
the same way, France will support her
allies in their economic demands
against the allies Of her opponents
without regard to the soundness or
unsoundness of the views themselves.
Assumptions Here Mistaken.
| The fallacy of all calculations for a
successful international conference
whether upon currency. tariffs or any,
thing else rests upon the primary as
| sumption that peoples who are in a
reasonably or act sensibly upon such
questions. Here in Washington I find
wide conviction that European peoples
are ready now in the face of con-
temporary misery to forget politics and
face business realities. But 1t Is Just
such things as the Hitler gesture and
the proposed German Italian combiha-
| ton which disclose how mistaken stch
an assumption is.
The same miscalculation oDfninated
when after the moratorium the German
chancellor and foreign minister came
first to Paris and then to Londcu seek
ing some financial aid to avert National
catastrophe. But when they w'ge told
by the French they could have the aid
I not otherwise available-if they aban-
doned their political purposes th*y de-
| clined, pleading with justice that they
could\ not get home support for slch
| foreign concessions.
ONCE let the representatives of Euro
pean nations meet in conference today,
whether the matter to be discussed be
CURRENCY, tariffs, disarmament or any
thing else, and the question under dis
cussidp will be approached purely from
a political point Of view. The issue
Polish (corridor, the Hungarian bound
aries, the Adj iatic. National represen-
tatives will vote in combination as their
respective. coalitions are finally agreed
to act.
So in the latest gesture of Hitler one
must see the launching of political
project as fatal to all present chance
of economic and financial cooperation
as was the Austro-G German tariff union
project to similar programs two years
ago. Today Europe is still only willing
to talk business in terms Of politics.