Evening star., 1935-09-15


perialism, italian Fascism and Ger
man National Socialism-are seen In
this country in the light of pre-war
and immediate postwar
judgments.
The material necessities which
underlie the political policies Of these
nations and explain them are not yet
grasped and until they are clearly per-
ceived there can be no adequate ap-
probation Of the problems which to-
day confront the world and must
have an immediate importance for
American craftsmanship. In England
and America there still endures o pro-
found unwillingnesS to believe that
any people can accept war as ma
tional necessity and the effort to ex-
plain the contemporary phenomenon
in terms Of the ambitions of dictators,
the Vaccinations of munitions max
ers, the conSpiracies of the interna-
tional bankers still visibly persists.
What the Ethiopian affair and the
Geneva spectacle which resulted from
1t should make plain to the American
people, however, is the truth that war
possible in the contemporary
world because Of the economic in
equalities existing between peoples
and the 1mpoSsibility of removing the
consequences of these in
equalities by any peaceful means. All
the secret Of the present policies OF
Japan, Germany and Italy Is dis
coverable in the examination of the
statistics which disclose the conges-
ton of populations, the exiguity of
raw materials and the absence of ac-
capital in these countries.
Revolution Menaces.
Under these circumstances, whereas
the alternative for the American and
British people-and for the French as
wells peace or war, the choice for
these others is between foreign war
and domestic revolution. To grasp
this fact Is to see at once why
neither Mussolini nor Hitler has any
real opportunity to escape conflict.
No government, no system of govern
ment can survive the effects of q
steadily declining standard of life
and an ever rising strain Of popula-
tion pressure. And under existing
that Is the future which
confronts the rulers and people Of
Japan, Germany and Italy.
It Is possible to believe that, in the
End, the Manchurian gamble will
prove the ruin of Japan and that
after the Ethiopian adventure Italian
will be more desperate
han before. What is inconceiyable
s that q government, whether demo-
,ratic or dictatorial, will sit down pas
sively and await the moment when
popular unrest produced by the misery
of the masses must overwhelm it,
too, this economic pres
sure driving nations to war Is some
hing wholly different from the forces
which brought about the World War.
And 1t Is this fact which explains
he breakdown of the postwar peace
for that was designed to
protect the world from the old dangers
and had no relevance to current con.
ditionS.
Japan has made war, Italy will
make war, Germany Is preparing to
make war-these are three facts which
olsengage themselves starkly from all
the fog and confusion Of the present
hour. Not less patent is the fact that
the economic circumstances of all
three Of these countries are similar.
Tnese circumstances, moreover, bar
the way permanently to any reason
able degree of national prosperity and
any decent standard of individual
LIE. And If war were to be pern1a-
nently abolished, there would be no
means by which such countries could
escape from these conditions until a
way were discovered to manufacture
cotton and wool, coal and iron, COP
per and tin, rubber and oil out Of thin
air or dry sand
Grim Reality Behind Moves,
Cuce you set aside all the sound
and fury Of Fascist eloquence, all the
brutality and beStiality of National
Socialist excesses, once you look be-
meath the surface of the japanese
gospel Of nationalism, you discover
realities which are as Ineligible as
the phrases and gestures of the
prophets Of these several gospels of
violence are meaningless to American
and English audiences. Above all you
discover why beneath the exaggeration
Of language there is solid determina-
ton.
Manchuria was the first step in the
education Of the American people to
The knowledge that war was still to
be reckoned with. Ethiopia Is the
second. Beyond the latter lies the
certainty of third, and this is bound
10 come not in distant Asia nor remote
Africa but n the very heart of Europe.
1t is the misfortune of the Germans
that they have no available field for
expansion at their doors as did the
Japanese, nor a foothold in Africa as
do the Italians, which can be used as
the jumping-off place for colonial
conquest. in whatever direction they
turn they are bound to come up
against the immediate resistance Of
an armed and determined people.
But like Mussolini, Hitler must 20
forward. Daily his domestic economic
problems become more pressing, hourly
the danger Of upheaval arising from
the sufferings OF the masses are in
:reasing and must continue to increase.
The explosions in Asia and Africa have
taken place, that in Europe has be-
come inevitable and cannot be post
poned indefinitely. That Is what the
affair Of Ethiopia and the failure of
the League Of Nations should make
clear. But 1t will not be clear on
this side Of the Atlantic until the
American public turn from the con-
sideration Of the moral details to the
material factors In the contemporary
problem of war and peace.
(Copyright. 1880
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