Evening star., 1935-11-17

and fail of their effect, or if Musso-
lini is able to force Halle SelaSSie to
surrender, then the British will mani
festly suffer a defeat of incalculable
proportions. And the longer the crisis
endures the greater is the danger that
this may occur. There is only one real
sanction which counts and that is the
exhaustion of Mussolini's gold. He
will be able to get from Germany, the
United States, some Latin American
states, Austria and Hungary the things
he most needs to carry on. Six months
or a year hence he might feel the
pinch but a great deal can happen in
year or even in half year.
Poland in German Bloc.
At any moment a German action
may change the whole face of Europe,
although things are going too we'll for
Hitler to tempt him to any premature
gesture just now. The British have
opened Central Europe to him and
Austria will fall into his hands like
ripe pear when he is ready. The
more acute Italy's troubles become, the
easier it will be for Hitler to extract
from MuSSolini consent to an Aus
tro-German union. The little, but
bitter dispute now going on between
Poland and Czechoslovakia shows how
the wind is blowing in Warsaw, while
the new economic treaty between
Poland and Germany definitely puts
Poland in the German economic and
political bloc.
Today the show which is being con-
Quoted at Geneva is, so far as the
British are concerned, directed pri-
marily at getting the United States
committed to support Great Britain,
not merely in the Italian quarrel
which is relatively minor, but in
European questions generally, so that
we shall be completely involved when,
as every one expects, Germany takes
the field again. The Italian episode
has disclosed British dependence upon
France. 1t was the French veto which
made blockade of italy impossible.
Otherwise Laval has perforce marched
after Baldwin but with great reluct-
ance and with extreme delay.
Baldwin's repeated Macedonian"
cries directed at Washington do repre-
sent sincere belief that the United
States must come back to Europe and
support British policy because he
knows perfectly we'll that France and
Great Britain cannot stand up against
Germany and Italy and realizes that
his Italian policy has insured an
eventual alliance between Rome and
Berlin. Tory enthusiasm for Geneva,
as recent as it is violent, is in no
small measure the result of the con-
viction that We can only be brought
to Europe through the League of
Nations.
Hitler's Terms Exorbitant.
The British can no longer hope to
do business with Hitler because his
terms are too exorbitant. He de-
mands, in effect, free hand to seize
the Baltic states and crush Soviet
Russia. If the Right parties could get
control in France they certainly would
come to terms with Mussolini and La
val, himself, has long nourished the
dream of direct deal between Paris
and Berlin. A victory for the Right
is. nevertheless. unlikely Looking out
lpon contemporary Europe the British
see that apart from the Leftist parties
in France they can count upon no ef-
fective friends.
They are face to face with an i'm
mediate challenge in the Mediter- |
ranean and an approaching challenge |
in the North Sea. England is exposed !
as never before by reason of the de- /
velopment of aircraft and there is no |
defense against air attack which can |
guarantee immunity to a great city |
like London. The British would like |
to play the old balance of power game
and they would like to use the League |
as the G. H. @. of such a system. As |
matter of fact they have used it
as such to a certain degree in their
present quarrel with Italy.
But the League is not strong enough
to permit such play to be made ef-
fectively. 1t could only become strong
enough if the United States could be
taken the pledges of the covenant,
we should be bound to join Britain in
the coercion of any aggressor who
menaced British security-and we
have no liabilities which would neces-
state Britain's taking on new re-
sponsibilities. Everybody else asks
as well as gives in dealing with the
British, but we would be an ideal ally
because we have nothing to ask. In
the long run, moreover, British Sc
curity depends upon Americas deci-
sion. If we stay at home then the
alternative is tie-up with the Soviet
Union as well as France, which has
already made its bargain with Mos
COW. While that would please Labor
government, it is poison for a Tory
cabinet.
Quarrel Managed CIumsiIy.
So far the British have managed
their quarrel with Italy rather clum-
silly. First they pulled a gun-the
dispatch of the home fleet to the
Mediterranean-without any warrant
from Geneva. When this failed to
arrest Mussolini they went to Geneva
and had the law on Italy. Now, when
both of these enterprises have failed
to stop II Duce, John Bull is working
every known device of propaganda
and Of financial pressure to persuade
the non-League powers, and chiefly
the United States. to help freeze and
starve the italian people into submis-
sion.
The home fleet, however, was not
sent to the China seas to frighten the
Japanese when they marched into
Manchuria. Unlike young Anthony
Eden, the seasoned Sir John Simon
sought not to inflame but to restrain
the League nations in the presence of |
an aggression. Washington was not
urged by London to share in "hun-
ger blockade" of the Japanese people;
on the contrary, Mr. Stimson's zeal
for the sanctity of treaties excited ir-
ritation in British official quarters.
As Winston Churchill Saws the