Evening star., 1935-06-09
AID FOR ANCLO.FRENCH
TIE IS SEEN in BALDWIN
Steadying of British Policy Is Expected
in Accession as Successor
to Macdonald.

in the cause Of world peace Is unques-
tionable, hut the easy assumption that
British or American policies will al.
ways be such that the world will ac-
cept them as purely pacific and permit
these nations to act as the worlds
volunteer police force Is rather sta
gering. Not less astounding is tn
apparent belief Of Baldwin that the
United States is likely TO do sentry
go with England in Europe to keep
the annoying and less enlightened peo-
Piles Of the continent in order. On the
contrary. it Is to be hoped that the
United States will continue to stick
to its policy Of absenting itself from
the League and the Court just as long
as there is any question Of employing
League machinery for coercion.
The United States Joined France,
Italy and Great Britain In the World
War and at the Paris conference in
the attempt to esta blish a state Of
peace that could not be created, chiefly
because the ethnic and geographical
circumstances Of the Continent pre-
vented it. but partly. too. because Of the
economic and armament provisions OF
the treaty Of Versailles for which the
British and French were responsible.
And there is nothing to suggest that
a new experiment would have q diff.
ferent ending.
The only valid barrier to American
membership in the World Court and
the League Is the obstacle created By
the practice Of various nations-of
which Britain is one-of using the
League machinery and exploiting the
principle of pace to aid in a collective
enterprise which Is primarily inspired
by concern for their own security. But
when the British decline to take re-
sponsibilities for peace outside OF tbs
region of the Rhine, which Baldwin
has indicated to be Britain's new from
tier, it is difficult to see why thev do
not identify in such action a precedent
for the refusal of the United States to
assume responsibilities for the status
quo anywhere in Europe. After all the
Vistula is nearer to London than the
Rhine to New York.
Viewpoint Understandable.
It is perfectly understandable that
no country can think Of world peace
except in terms Of its own security or
see in its own policy anything but q
sincere and unselfish concern for In
ternational tranquility. But what
happened to Mr.. Stimson when he
suggested to Downing Street that
American security was somewhat en-
gagged in the Manchurian affair
which was hardly exact. by the way
is likely to happen to Mr.. Baldwin IN
the state department If his present
project Of an Anglo-Amertcan collec-
tive system is entrusted TO diplomatic
channels.
OF the recent prime ministers Of
England, counting from Asuulth.
Baldwin is perhaps the sblest. all
though he has none of the adroit-
ness OF Lloyd George or the en1o-
tional drive Of Macdonald He knows
how to use other men, as his capture
and exploitation Of Macdonald In 1881
demonstrated. He prefers power to
position and has been perfectly salts
fed to work behind the scenes and
run a great Tory ma jority BY means Of
a national cabinet at one time split.
ting the opposition and protecting
himself against the dificult+es Incl
dent to an unwieldy majority. The
national government has always been
a fiction, but a fiction Of incredible
advantage to Stanley Baldwin.
Next year at the latest there seems
likely to be a general election. and
when that is over it may be necessary
TO drop the mask But the present
cabinet has done so well on the eco
nomic side that Tory defeat is quite
unlikely-and this is the truer because
Labor has no leader and the Liberal
party remains a museum piece. De-
spite all Labor and Liberal criticism
Of the foreign policy Of the present
government, too, there can be no oues-
tioning the fact that German moves
in the past II months have shocked
British public opinion and greatly re-
duced the demand for unilateral Brit
ish disarmament and the enthusiasm
for doing justice to Germany.
Baldwin Has Steadiness.
| Few public men are as capable OF
concealing their qualities as Baldwin.
who smokes his pipe publicly, talks
about his pigs and other bucolic inter-
ests frequently, keeps out Of the pic
| ture whenever possible, but plays his
political cards with supreme skill. More
than one great newspaper editor and
political pundit has underestimated
| him, only to discover too late the ex-
tent and cost Of his miscalculations.
Underneath all else. moreover. Bald
win has the steadiness which the Eng
lish admire most.
Looking backward now it is hard to
believe that the chief humiliation OF
poor Curzon when the King passed
/ him over in 1928 at the moment Bonar
Law retired and sent for Baldwin was
his conviction that he had been nosed
out by nobody. Twelve years later it
is evident that the nobody was the
right man for the Job and that he has
gradually overshadowed all rivals and
out unanswered all foes. including
Beaverbrook and Rothermere. With the
virtual retirement of Macdonald and
| the evident collapse of Lloyd Georges
comeback" Baldwin now holds the
center of the British stage and not i'm
possibly of the European as well. For
there was never a moment when Brit
ish leadership was more necessary
nor, on the surface at least. more cas-
! lily obtainable. In fact Baldwin. in
very real sense. has become the best
hope Of preventing another war in any
immediate future.
| (copyriEht, 1889