Evening star., 1937-10-10
World Peace Becomes An
Economic Problem.
BY OWEN L. SCOTT.

is Intent upon plunglng this country
into the heart of the present world tur-
moil. Something more than good inten-
tions will be the price of cooperation.
A few simple facts are getting atten-
ton in Government departments, in
cluding the State Department. These
reveal the strange world dilemma.
Todays prosperity abroad - about
which the people of this country have
often been regaled-is a prosperity
based upon war and war preparation.
England is going strong on huge arma-
ment program. Germany and Italy are
squandering their resources on vast
program of war preparation. Japan is
afloat on her costly adventure in China,
involving the lavish use of past capital
accumulations. Other nations and
some industries in this country-are
thriving on demands that grow from
these preparations and adventures.
Kick the bottom out of this situation
without first preparing the way for some
substitute activity. and one of two things
would happen: Either the prosperity
bubble would be pricked, plunging the
world back into depression, or the ma
lions about which Mr.. Roosevelt COM
plains would be forced in desperation
into wars in which they would gamble
to realize on their gigantic investment in
arms that otherwise would be unpro-
ductive.
Yet, If preparation for war goes ahead
without check, and if wars already under
way go on, the result in the end can
only be the same when nation after
nation reaches the end of it's resources.
The choice then would be aggression,
bankruptcy or revolution which might
bring the hope of outside help.
Mr.. Roosevelt is we'll aware of the
dilemmas and the problems of this crazy
world situation.
There are two main courses that the
United States can take in meeting the
international problems One is to try to
pull this Nation in on itself, striving for
a greater degree of isolation and under
taking the vast readjustments in agri-
culture and in industry that would be
forced by withdrawal from world affairs.
New Dealers favor this course The
other is to return to the world stage,
using the resources and the prestige of
the United States to try to bring order
out of chaos. Cordell Hull, Secretary of
State, works night and day for this
course and Mr.. Roosevelt at this stage
is interested in his thesis.
But the problems of this second course
are as great, if not greater. than those
of the other. Furthermore, they involve
political considerations that can take all
of the daring-and possibly more, too
that the President possesses.
First OF all, both sides explain, the
people Of this couktry must realize that
Japan and Germany and Italy. particu-
larly the last two, are acting the way
they do not from any inherent tendency
toward surliness and bad tempers, but
because of some hard and rather cruel
facts. Dictatorships do not simply grow
on trees. Rather, modern dictatorship
is the product of desperation, establish
ing itself when the normal functioning
Of the economic machine breaks down.
The Fascist and military dictatorships
OF the three countries Mr. Roosevelt
seems to have in mind are the product
of economic presSures. Those pressures
in turn, arise from the fact that these
are three nations poor in raw materials
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the loans from the United States
stopped, that the markets that were
once open to them all over the world had
gradually been closed by tariff barriers.
Unable to keep af1oat longer by borrow
ing and unable to produce and to sell
| freely in order to get the exchange es-
sential to further purchases of needed
raw materials, the nations embarked on
| adventures.
Many of todays world troubles trace
| directly back to the fact that the United
States, following the war. refused to
| reduce its tariffs and to assume the re-
| Sponsibilities that are those of a world
banker
But again the dilemma has been at
| work.
AS the "have-not" nations undertook
| to become sufficient and at the same
time to arm in preparation for the time
when they could grab something from
the "haves," the effect was to cause
these very "haves" to pull in on them
selves. Fearing the dangers of the for
eign situation, this country enacted neu-
trality laws designed to shut its markets
to warning nations. This, in turn, forced
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perately to become self sufficient and
to look around for other sources of raw
materials, ready to take them by force,
If necessary.
Mr. Roosevelt hints that the thing to
do may be to call the cops and to estab-
lish an international quarantine In
this way. so the President figures, tn
pirates among the nations of the world
may be starved out. But they may not
starve so easily. Great Britain tried
that with Italy when the Italians started
to take" Ethiopia. Mussolini quickly
advised the British that the game they
started meant war, and John Bull
backed water. Now the word from Lon
don is that Britain is not interested in
the idea of boycott for Japan. The
hint Is that the cost of an effort to
starve out Japan will be fight. Eng
land has troubles of her own in the
mediterranean and does not relish a
battle in the Pacific. Yet she would
very much like to have this country han
die the matter for her
This all is very dangerous ground. and
yet 1t is ground that Mr.. Roosevelt now
feels must be covered.
In the case of Japan. the official
diplomatic advices are to the effect that
the Japanese are very near the end of
their financial resources and will be
wrecked by a prolonged fight In China.
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