Evening star., 1936-06-21
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

"NHE 9JUenClOn OF Europe Is 10
cused on the 1886 presidential
elections in the United States.
DIPLOMATS in Washington are
sending long reports weighing the
chances of Gov Alf Landon against
President Roosevelt. European news
papers have sent sizable number Of
reporters and special writer's to watch
the political developments in this
country. The Cleveland convention,
and especially the platform OF the
Republican party, has aroused more
interest in France and in Great
Britain than any news reports from
the United States in the last six
months.
Foreign Ambassadors left their COM
Portable residences in Washington to
go to Cleveland to obtain firSt-hand
information about the possible de-
velopments in Americas foreign policy
should the Republican party be VIC
tor.ous at the November elections.
The interest in Great Britain and
In France is keener than in other Sec
tions of Europe. Leon Blum and
Stanley Baldwin recognize that the
only hope of maintaining the status
quo in the world, as set up by the
postwar treaties and by the policies
of the League, lies in a whole-hearted
cooperation of the United States
with the League of Nations or with
either of the two European powers
France and Great Britain.
The French premier hopes to make
The Improvement of American-French
relations principal achievement OF
his foreign policy. Not that M. Blum
has any particular love for this coun-
try or its institutions. But France
needs q loan of S1,000,000,000 and
he knows that this country has idle
capital.
Hopes U. s. Will Join League.
Furthermore, the leader of the So
cialist party is a firm believer in an
efficient League of Nations, and he
hopes that by recognizing that body
so as to comply more with the ideals
of President Wilson this country
might be induced to join the Geneva
club. The American people, says M
Blum, are peace loving and they ought
to realize that peace in the world can
be achieved only through interna-
tional cooperation.
The British, too would like to SEE
the United States in the League, bu
they realize more than the othel
continental nations that this. will bt
difficult, even for an administration
favorably inclined toward the Genev:
organization.
The British are realiStS. Thei
chief concern is the security Of tht
empire in the Far East. An agree
ment with Mussolini is possible, at {
small cost. But an agreement witt
the Japanese is much more difficult
The British admiralty and the gen
eral staff know that Japans expan
Bionist ambitions cannot be thwartet
without the effective cooperation o
the United States Navy. And that CO
operation can be obtained only if tn
Washington administration shares tn
view prevalent in London, that tn
Japanese menace is much grave
than it appears on the surface.
For the time being British diplo
macy is trying to play both horses
the United States and Japan. Pend
ing the results of the November elec
tion, Downing street has been trying
unsuccessfully, to reach some under
standing with the Toxic government
Sir Frederick Leith-Ross went t
Toxic, allegedly to discuss some sor
of q commercial understanding re
garding British interests in China
In the meantime, at the request o
the British government, the Japanes
consul general in Egypt went to Lon
don to talk over Japanese-Egyptial
commercial agreement. This, at least
was the official explanation of tina
diplomats visit. The real reason, how
ever, was the desire of the Britis
government to sound out the Toki
government on the possibility of rec
onciling their conflicting interests.
Results Are Negative.
So far the results of those talk
have been negative. The truth
that Britain has nothing to offer Il
o deal with the japanese.
The British government suggeste'
that In exchange for a limitation o
Japanese competition in British zone
Of influence in the Far East Grea
Britain would agree to the establish
nnent Of q japanese zone Of influenc