Evening star., 1935-11-03

hearts content
In past years this same pack had
| been let loose in turn against France,
YugOSlaVia, etc., but these countries
had taken the attitude that they had
better ignore the bowling OF the pack.
In the case of England, however.
the attack could not be neglected, as
it came simultaneously with the war
like preparations which Italy was di-
recting against part of Africa that
no ruler Of India can afford to over
look. The Italian press derided help
less" Great Britain. made fun of her
disarmament and pacifist theology and
spoke as though the Mediterranean
already had been turned into Roman
lake.
The British government took the
matter very seriously. In that verbal
onslaught delivered by government
which, traditionally. had meekly fol-
lowed in Great Britains wake, Eng
land discerned a writing on the wall,
a warning. a barometer which told the
world that England had allowed her
military strength to fall beneath the
fine of safety.
Hence the feverish rearmament Of
Great Britain which is going on apace
and which will continue to be pushed
forward energetically-for the admir-
atty and the war office, trampled upon
for so many years by cabinet and
Parliament. have eagerly seized the
opportunity for recouping and of max
| ing the most of a weak and vacillating
administration which the storm of
public opinion, perchance, has hap
pened to transform into an appar-
emily resolute one.
Danger Seen in Dictators.
But there is more. Once again. Mr.
Britling sees it through. England has
come to the conclusion that. after all.
dictators. especially when they are Of
the "totalitarian" kind. are essentially
dangerous to the maintenance Of
peace-that 1t is unhealthy for the
world that man in Italy and man
in Germany should be invested with
such unlimited powers that the ques-
ton of whether there shall be war or
peace should practically be left to
their own discretion or impulsion.
In a famous conversation with
Count de Chambrun, French Ambas-
sador, Benito Mussolini said that even
though all the mothers of Italy should
weep, that even though the whole
italian people might sink into an
abyss Of suffering, still he would never
assent to the humiliation of his coun-
try: we'll. under a regime provided
with some checks and balances. such
undiluted words could never prevail.
In its present trend the public feel.
ing in England and the policy which
reflects it run strongly against Euro
pean relationships. Between Great
Britain and Benito Mussolini there is
personal account to be settled. In
the judgment of the leaders of Great
Britain, 1t can only be settled by the
overthrow of the dictator. But in that
frame of mind there can be detected
the seeds of continental policy di-
rected against fascism in all of its
forms. This fact probably accounts
for the grave declaration which Sir
Samuel Hoare made to the French
Ambassador in London on September
"a, at the close of the cabinet coun-
Gil, that If France should stand solidly
by England in the Mediterranean with
all her forces, England would follow
France everywhere"
France Hesitates to Jump.
rr,,. r,,oet c,,r;o,,e fa,+,,ra 80 49, 80
uation is that the French ministry,
and the French public opinion at its
back, should not have jumped at once
at that proposal. For Is years the
French people have striven for secur-
ity and for a mode of security con-
sisting Of the closest cooperation with
the British Empire. And when, at
last. the boon came within their grasp
they showed good deal of hesitation
and reluctance.
know, of course, that the eminence
Of M. Pierre Laval as wirepuller,
his permanent leaning toward direct
understanding with Hitlerian Ger
many. his ignorance of the British
character, and his hold upon the
French press were responsible for that
curious Stata Of affairs. Also respon.
sible was the odd idea formed by the
conservative parties that their fate
In the general elections next year will
be sealed one way or another by the
triumph or the defeat of Mussolini-
Notwithstanding the Nct that, should
Mussolini last, he would have to i'm
pose upon his countrymen a kind of
national communism which most
Frenchmen wouldn't stand for q single
week.
I know, too, that the French con-
servatives felt that it would be q clever
move to raise the cry of pacifism, so
as to rout the Left with the aid of the
Let's own usual formulas.
Nevertheless, it is q wonder that the
prospect Of reaching an understanding
with England which nearly amounted
to an alliance Except in actual name)
should have been so coldly considered.
It Is a wonder, too, that the occasion
(perhaps unique) to form q common
front with Great Britain against the
dictators should have been caught
only by the Left, which. In this juno
ture. behaved for once in a nationalist
spirit.
During the conflict have no doubt
that France will back England, on the
whole But at this writing it is i'm
possible to tell how far this support
will 60. In any event. it will be handi-
capped by that exclamation Of M
Laval's (when he heard the extent
of the huge mobilization ordered by
the admiralty in WhitehalD, which
went straight to British ears and
struck British hearts, too-"They are
dragging out their old material and
they haven't much Of 1t to spare!"
M. Laval. in the circumstances, was
% foolish % Benito Mussolini-and
that tells . long tale.