Evening star., 1937-07-25
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

l
Il that is the effective inter-
vention OF the United States in world
affairs"
This is the refrain sung in varied
tunes by statesmen of Europe and by
American diplomats in key posts in
Europe. 1t was said to President
Roosevelt by Premier van Iceland in
long talks the two men had a few
weeks ago; it Is the tenor OF conf
Dental dispatches and of long trans
oceanic telephone calls from Ambass-
ador Bingham and Ambassador Bullitt
They were the parting words of
Finance Minister Bonnet OF France,
before he left his Washington post.
But these interventions have served
only to show the President how
rapidly the world is approaching an
irremediable catastrophe
The White House and State Depart
ment believe our position in world
affairs is changed Since the enc
| OF the last war the United States
| has become world power. An
endeavor has been made to maintain
| our lsolationist, ideals but now our
leaders have come to the conclusion
! that this country is an important
wheel in the world machinery.
! The dificulty in maintaining an
aloof position in any major conflict
has been expressed by Secretary OF
State Cordell Hull who stated, when
ne formulated the new American
credo:
There can be no serious hostilities
anywhere in the world which will
not In one way or another affect
interests or rights or obligations of
this country"
L. 5. Interest Passive.
| Heretofore the Official attitude Of
the United States Government in
| resuard to international affairs was
TO observe happenings in other coun-
tries closely. but to maintain the
attitude that their affairs are not
ours. The aggressive policies Of
Henry StimSon in 1891 and 1892 in
regard TO the Far East were based on
treaty obligations Of this country
and were abandoned when it became
! obvious that the other Western powers
had made up their minds to let US
hold the bag From that time on
the position Of the United States
Government has been one of passive
interest. True enough. Mr.. Roosevelt
made several abortive endeavors to
bring about a better cooperation
| among nations-at Geneva in 1888
when the limitation Of arms confer
ence was bankrupted: in London, the
same year, when the efforts for
an economic understanding among
nations were killed by dissensions
between the gold standard nations
and those which abandoned gold, and
III London in 1885, when the japanese
government abandoned the Washing
! ton and London naval agreements.
Secretary Hull evolved his own
/ policy for a better understanding
among men and nations-the policy
OF reciprocal trade agreements. But
the world is not sufficiently ripe to
understand and accept this method of
returning to better conditions. 1t is
very much like the Kellogg pact and
the League Of Nations. They all
say: Admirable ideas, splendid
| thoughts. but -"
1t is because of this, and also in
order to find out how sincere the
k1lrnnp0n
say. The United States is the only
power which can save us from q
catastrophe, that the administration,
through the Secretary of State, has
issued the new American credo. The
statements, We advocate national and
| international self-restraint; We ad-
Vocate abstinence from use Of force
and from Interference in in
ternal affairs Of other nations: we
advocate adjustment Of problems in
international relations by processes
| OF peaceful negotiations and agree
ment; we advocate faithful observance
OF international agreements: we be-
lleve in limitations and reductions Of
armaments and =" are no longer
empty diplomatic expressions. They
have = distinct meaning which no
world chancellery can overlook-that
any serious disturbance of the peace
anywhere in the world seriously affects
our national interests. And the con-
clusion is equally significant: I'VE are
prepared to reduce or to increase our
own armed forces in proportion to the
| reductions or increases, made by other
countries"
The Hull credo includes also the
foundation stone for an eventual peace
conference.
Trial Balloons Sent Up.
A few weeks after the outbreak OF
the Spanish civil war last year trial
balloons were issued from WASHINGTON
to test the possibilities of an inter-
national conference to settle the LOOM
ing economic ana political problems.
Because of internal political develop
mentS, and especially because the
situation in Europe appeared so hope
lessly complicated, the idea has never
come to fruition it was POSTPONED