Evening star., 1933-12-17

ssasl - R
| tation of being a great wit, said to the
| late Herr Stresemann: "It is pity that
you Germans, alone in Europe, should
believe that there has really been a VIC
tory of the Allied powers!" Strese-
mann's answer was: Il can assure you
that the smallest fraction of that VIC
tory would have been very much ap-
| preciated by US"
associated powers have not put the
| supremacy of their arms to good use
| But Germans. in their place, would
| have made victory fruitful-at least
they think so.
In the future the various govern
ments will look. before everything else
| for the acquisition OF economic ad-
| vantages. The best security against
the breaking out of warfare is the con-
ciliation of material interests. The
origin and growth of the Hitlerian
movement in Germany is best explained
| by the distressing conditions which pre-
vail within the borders of the German
Reich"
The best criticism Of that formula
is probably to be found in the history
of German policy between 1895 and
1914. During that period the minis
| ters Of the HohenZollern emperor un.
remittingly carried out what was called
economic" or peaceful" penetration
and, as German inanciers and indus
trialists are gifted with great alertnes.
Of mind, ingenuity and inventive re.
! sources, a considerable measure of sue
| cess was achieved.
The recognition by the British gov
nf no roi
Constantinople to Bagdad, on the eve
of the war; the Anglo-German parti.
ton of the Portuguese colonies which
was provided for by an agreement
which Sir Edward Grey reluctantly
initiated nearly at the same time: the
Russo-German trade treaty of 1904
wheat to the German market and en-
abled the Germans to build up a profit
able export trade of wheat and -four
despite the standing deficit of their
crops at home-these are the most
noteworthy milestones upon that road
which. II Germany had not deviated
from it, would have led her. sooner or
later. to the economic and perhaps tn
the political hegemony of the conti-
nent.
Gains Secured BY Fear.
But why did Germany swerve from a
direction which she had found so full
of material gains? Because those gains
had been secured, in most occasions
as result Of the fear that Germany
warlike preparations reused in the
heart of England and Russia, and be-
| cause, in the end, the German govern
ment came to the conclusion that
there was no limit to the concessions
which it might wiring from other gov
ernments by adopting a bullying atti.
tude. Such were the words used with
surprising frankness by the most enter
prising Of the German representatives
abroad, when he called at the British
foreign Office on August 3. 1914. to take
leave; he deplored that, in Berlin, the
higher powers had chosen to part with
method that had proved so Servicable
to national interests.
Looking at things from wider view
point, it must be admitted that eco
nomic and political interests by nature
do not differ qualitatively but only
quantitatively. Whenever economic
interests have been developed to a GER
tain degree In any particular zone
they translate themselves into political
interests. And. whenever political in
for instance, by the employment OF
force-economic interests are likely tC
rise in their train as the direct out
| come of what has been done
OF course, were all specifically ma
tional ambitions to be discarded to-
day, were the various governments to
become Indifferent to frontier consid-
erations and to cooperate in jointly
developing their material interests, most
mems conditions of existence would
be improved very distinctly. But in
Europe national passions run ahead of
economic motives at nearly every turn
Economic agreements are sure to be
sought for only in so far as they do
not hamper the promotion, the exalta-
tion OF the national cause: upon that
basis, they are pawns in the game OF
politics and are not substitute for 1t.
Politics Ruled the Day.
How it is that nothing has come out
OF the recommendation of the Stresa
Conference (September, 1892, or OF
the proposals of M. Tardieu (February,
1882, and of several other schemes? +?
The answer is this: The economic pro-
posals submitted on the German side
have always been calculated to pro-
mote German political interests, while
those which were initiated by France
were intended to strengthen the In
dependence of the national states which
were created or enlarged in 1918-'1e.
Behind this thin veil of the economic
discussion politics and politics only
| ruled the day.
We are led back to the Old World
| or, more accurately, the Old World
never ceased to be very much alive
The undertaking Of President Wilson
reduced to essentials, was to bring in
| ternational relations from the histori-
cal plane to the plane of personal ethics
to assume that coliectivities of mer
could be made amenable to the same
rules of conduct that obtain between
private individuals. 1t has failed. There
has not been any sudden interruption
under the pressure OF the great war, In
the development of the historical force:
which for centuries have shaped Europe
And, in 1919, Henry Wickham Steed
was wrong.
But has there ever been, so far back
as We can look, such an interruption
The only instance of q great revolution
in the hearts Of men that can be cited
Is the advent Of Christianity. But 1.
1t so sure that Christianity itself In.
troduced a great change in the conduct
OF state affairs?