Evening star., 1936-10-25
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
(("HERE are only two alterna.

66THERE are only two alterna-
tives for Europe hence
forth. Either its states
L men will get together and
devise an honest-to-goodness plan for
limitation of armaments and political
cooperation, or the continent will be
plunged in war such as the world
has never before seen. It's either
bend or break" observed Leon Blum,
Frances much harassed premier.
"And, in order to save the world from
another blood bath, it Is essential
that we should have Americas CO.
operation" These were M. Blum'S
parting words to this writer before
he left Paris last month. 1t is for
this reason that in every country in
Europe chancellerieS are following the
Forthcoming presidential election with
the keenest interest.
The same thought which is found
In responsible administration quarters
in Washington was voiced to this
writer by the other leading men of
Europe. In every capital, with the
possible exception of Berlin, states
men are roofing for Roosevelt, because
they believe that his reelection will
draw the United States into another
international confab which may pos
sibly lead to peaceful settlement of
the present disturbance in world af-
fairs.
The readiness with which the
United States Government has lent
It's support to Great Britain and
France when the latter country de-
cided to go off the gold standard
tends to confirm the view of European
statesmen that another Roosevelt ad.
ministration would be willing to go
one step further and collaborate with
the countries across the Atlantic for
q peaceful solution of Europe's prob
lens.
Would Revive Conference.
What Blum and other political lead
ers in Western Europe have in mind
Is the revival of the conference for
limitation of armamentS, which closed
its doors in 1898 and has since been
considered defunct. This thought is
being given consideration in Washing
ton. but because of the electoral cam
paign nothing much is being said at
the present moment. The approaches
of foreign diplomats who are testing
the ground at the State Department
are met with polite silence. Still,
Government officials are listening to
what is being said and reserving their
answer until after November 3.
The limitation of arms conference,
which was begun in 1927 and was
forcefully brought to a head under
the Hoover administration, lamenta-
bly, failed in 1888 because of Frances
adamant refusal to allow Germany
conscript army and what used to be
termed at Geneva token armaments"
"a few airplanes and few tanks.
The successive French governments
between 1927 and 1888 took the legal
istic point of view that Germany must
live up to the terms of the Versailles
treaty, and since she had not given
the world sufficient proof Of her good
Intentions never to go on the war
path again, the other nations. must
maintain a distinct superiority in
armaments Furthermore, Germany
could not be permitted qualitative
equality of war weapons.
Versailles Treaty Dead.
The treaty of Versailles now is
dead. Germany has not only a quail
tative equality, but today boasts Of
cts nd hocf anrIinnod
in Europe, despite the objections OF
her former foes. Blum and his cabi-
net are realists. While the do not say
30 openly, they consider the treaty
of Versailles as shot and buried. 1T
Is foolish to remain attached to a
corpse, no matter how much you loved
the defunct. A corpse must be buried
and forgotten" Thus spoke one of
the principal collaborators Of the
French premier This opinion, of
course, is shared 100 per cent by the
British. cabinet and the British people.
Thus France, which was the main
stumbling block at the Geneva dis
armament meetings. has adopted a
practical attitude, which is: Since
Germany has rearmed on a greater
scale than we thought she would be
able to, let's. all disarm from now on"
While the limitation of arms con-
ference is to all intents and purposes
finished, the machinery still exists.
Officially that parley has been merely
adjourned and could be reconvened
at any time one of the participants
decides to demand meeting.
Would Agree to Cut.
The general outline of what the
Western European statesmen have in
mind is as follows: The delegates Of
the limitation Of arms conference
should be called back to Geneva. The
Agenda of the conference should be
taken up from where it was left when
the meetings were adjourned. Since
Germany has at the present moment
. larger military machine than any
other country, France and her allies
the so-called neutral states, the
Soviets and probably Great Britain
the United States and the other
former participants would agree to
u QTdSIlC CuC LII IllCn Aoii0 dilu oh
ornaments. italy might be won over
If the othersnations show real will
lingness to diSarm. There are only
two nations in the world which will
be reluctant to destroy the war ma
chinery they have been building with
utmost care during the last few years.
These nations are Germany and
Japan. They will be invited to send
delegates to Geneva, too. But whether
they will agree to sign on the dotted
line or not is q matter of indifference
to the others.
One of the difficulties encountered
at the previous disarmament confer
ence was the definition Of the ag-
gressor.
In 1888 President Roosevelt en-
deavored to give an adequate defini-
tion by stating that nation should be
considered as an aggressor when 1t
sends its armed forces outside its ter
s.kA t.A &nN