Evening star., 1935-02-17
Continued From First Page.)

we had better stick to an attitude
which comes natural to us, which
during the last two centuries has be-
come an absolutely integral part OF
our own national consciousness, which
is as typical of us as the griddle
cakes we eat for breakfast. Let
others eat jam or cheese or porridge
for their first meal We intend to
stick to our flapjacks. and that is
that
That much for the imperialism,
without an emperor, which circum-
stances seem to have forced upon us.
The question remains, can we hope
to be successful at game which
other nations have never been able
to play without recognized Caesar,
whether he wore the laurel wreath
of Augustus, the iron crown of
Charlemange or the brown slouch
hat of Adolf Hitler? To tell you
the truth, I don't think it Is ques-
ton of Can we?" The problem is
much simpler than that. We have
got to succeed. For upon the intel
ligent acceptance of our fate depends
the entire future Of the civilized
world And this brings me to the
most important point wanted to
make in this article.
Intelligence Needed.
1t Is not enough for us to accept
that imperial burden forced upon us
by circumstances. We must also ap-
proach it in sense Of high intel
ligence.
How far have we applied our intel
ligence to those problems that are
an unavoidable part of all large inter-
national real estate speculations?
am sorry, but I don't think that our
grandchildren and our great-grand-
children will be very deeply impressed
by the way in which we have han
died them. Like all other nations Cor
individually, we are likely to suffer
from the "failings Of olr own vir-
tues" In our own case that virtue
turned into failing" is our kind
heartedness toward our neighbors, re-
verted into an obstinate optimism
which makes us positively blind and
deaf and dumb to the facts Of this
world as they are.
OF course, in this matter as in
everything else we are merely the
products of our own geographical and
historical background. AS I said be-
fore, we started upon our career with
out the faintest notion about the i'm
mediate future that awaited us and
that was to make a struggling group
of quarreling little States into one of
the largest empires of all time.
We took possession Of a vast con-
tinent that was both unusually rich
and very scarcely populated. We had
to conquer distance, but distance does
not shoot back. In the rest Of the
world, ever since the last glacial Pc
riod, every tribe, every family, every
individual has been obliged to fight
for its existence against almost over
whelming odds, both of geographical
and physical nature Even today, the
moment you pick up the newspaper,
you get an immediate impression Of
absolute and organized chaos as far
as the rest of the world seems to be
concerned. Everywhere on the map
it is a matter of standing room
only"
Nations Are Opposed.
The Germans and French are still
trying to push each other into the
Baltic and into the Bay of Biscay.
The Italians and French fight for the
same cities along the coast Of the
Mediterranean. In India hardly a
day passes without fatal riots that
grow directly out of lack Of space
and lack of space is merely another
name for hunger. Japan Is forced
to maintain a topheavy army and
navy because its people have not got
enough room for expansion. In South
Africa black and white are at each
others throats because they both
want (and absolutely need. each
others mealie fields and grazing pas
lures.
We, blessed among all the nations
of the world, simply cannot under
stand why those other people cannot
adhere to our own policy Of Give and
let live" If we applied our intelli-
gence' to the problem and INDUCED
in a simple sum Of mathematics we
would understand 1t quickly enough,
for If our own country had the den-
sity of population Of Belgium we
would have two thousand million peo-
rle in our country. instead Of the 145,-
OO0, 900, and then where would we be
with our rugged individualism?
We talk Of hard times and depres-
sion. Heaven bless us, we do not
even begin to suspect what real
hard times" are. It is true, these
last four years have been quite diff
ficult for a great number Of our fel-
low citizens. But what about our