Evening star., 1937-12-05
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.
tITHIS country is threatened by
the surging menace of
Fascism and Nazi-ism." A
fine thesis for soapbox
Grafton, this sentence is heard fire.
quently in Washington these days
Some people are frightened, just as
they were some 10 years ago at the
word bolshevism; others shrug their
shoulders and smile, confident that
such alien forms of government could
not take root in this country.
There is little immediate danger
that the political PHILOSOPHERS of Mus
solini and Hitler will gain sway in
the United States. But there is real
menace in the spread of totalitarian
doctrines In Central and South Amer
lea.
All endeavors to induce the "ag-
greSsive" nations to live up to the
existing treaties and agreements have
failed All endeavorS to persuade the
so-called democracies to accept revi-
sions of those treaties have also failed
The relationships have, therefore,
banded together and adopted a COM
mon policy directed with great skill
from Berlin. Action, quick action, is
their motto.
Narcotics for Democracies.
The democratic governments, on the
other hand, have failed to reach an
understanding. Their foreign policies,
guided by vacillating statesmen who
keep a watchful eye on their elec-
torates, have been haphazard and
weak. They are opposing force with
sanctimonious speeches. They are like
the country doctor who prescribes a
narcotic for cancer because it relieves
the pain The European democracies
don't trust each other and don't trust
themselves. And they have lost faith
IN their ability to oppose force with
force.
The New Deal administration has
chosen, ever since it first came to
Washington, to work in close co-opera-
ton with the European democracies,
principally Great Britain. The bulky
British Ambassador, Sir Ronald Lind
say, who several times a week pays
unobtrusive visits to State Department
officials and holds long pow-wows
with leading Congressman, is the
principal link between Londons for
eign Office and Washington.
Despite the Voronoff injections
which Mr. Roosevelt has administered
in an attempt to stimulate the West
ern democracies, no signs of rejuvena-
tion have been detected. His stand in
the Italo-E Ethiopian conflict, the en-
barge on arms and ammunition in
the Spanish civil war, the neutrality
act-a help to the Western democra-
cies in the event of conflict with the
authoritarian stateS-an these ad-
vances have yielded no result.
The last effort at Brussels failed
more pitifully than the others. The
conference started like a lion and
ended like a scared rabbit. Until the
last minute the State Department had
hoped that the spirit of the Nine
Power Pact at least might be safe
guarded by the appointment of a per-
manent subcommittee to keep the
ideals of the conference alive
Scurry From Wrath.
But the 16 nations which met at
Brussels refused to adopt even that
face-saving device They scuttled.
There was not even the usual right
eously indignant pronouncement that
the nations gathered at this mo-
mentous conference realizing j.. etc.,
etc, decide that the inviolability Of
the principles contained, ETC., etc."
The delegates feared that such reso-
luton might offend Japan-the nation
which only a few weeks previously
had been branded an aggressor.
All these factors make up the
battling predicament of those who
formulate the foreign policy of the
United States. Now they have come
to the conclusion that there are two
courses open to this country: Either
we remain in our shell, readjust our
national economy to the needs of our
own population and don't peer
through the shell to see what happens
in the outside world; or we take i'm
mediate action, alone if necessary, to
call the hand Of the dictators.
The first recourse is naturally easier
and, for the time being, the more
popular on Capitol Hill. It means
that we can concentrate on internal
problems-farm relief, UNEMPLOYMENT
housing, etc. 1t means the continual
ton of our traditional stand of mo
entanglements." It means maintain
ing the good neighbor policy as long
as the neighbors want to remain
good. 1t means an increase in the
Army and Navy budgets. but this
after all, is immaterial, since some 40
per cent of the sums expended in
national defense goes into the pockets
OF working people.
This policy, however, is not re-
garded as the more desirable by the
administration.
Quarantine" Speech Recalled.
President Roosevelt, in his "quaran-
tine" speech Of October S, stated:
The people Of the United States
must give thought to the rest of
the world. The present reign
OF terror and lawlessness has
now reached a stage where the
very foundations of civilization
are seriously threatened. -
The peace-loving nations must
make a concerted effort in oppos-
ing those violations of treaties and
those ignorings Of humane in
stincts which today are creating
states OF anarchy and instability
from which there is no escape to e
mere isolation or neutrality. =. ="
And a few days later Secretary
Cordell Hull stated at Toronto that
nation cannot live in splendid
isolation any more than can a family
or an individual.
These declarations are more than
mere expressions of general views.
They represent the absolute convic-
ton Of those speakers that sooner or
later this country may have to draw
the sword In self f-defense, not to make