Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1938-05-22
By CONSTANTINE BROWN.
is nothing tangible to indicate
that the administration is contem-
plating change in the present pol

that the administration Is contem-
plating q change in the present pol
icy of mo entanglements and no
alliances" But despite repeated official
protestations that the basic principles Of
our foreign policy, as outlined by the Presi-
dent and his Secretary of State on various
occasions, have remained unchanged" the
various activities OF the State Department
lead informed observers to believe that we
may soon find ourselves in situation SINH
lar to that of 1917
Privately 1t is recognized that the policy
Of this country cannot remain static; that
1t must undergo changes in line with de-
velopments in the rest Of the world. For
instance, the Secretary of State admitted
two weeks ago that our treaty of 1921 with
Germany Is necessarily Influenced by the
fate OF the Versailles treaty between Ger
many and the other powers. In other
words. since the Versailles treaty has been
dismembered by Germany. little remains
Of our own treaty with that power
But the chief concern Of the observers
Of international affairs is whether our
leaders Will remain faithful to the prin-
ciples of an Independent American policy
the theoretical isolationism advocated by
George Washington-or will consider that
in this changing world we cannot remain
an isolated unit. Recently at gathering
Of "a few select" in Washington, the usual
question: DO you think that q world
war is unavoidable?" was put to one of our
spokesmen on international affairs. He
paused for few seconds, then replied:
The war has not stopped. We have all
been at war since 1914. There has not
been year when there were not either
revolutions, wars or economic struggles
which. in many ways. are more fierce and
destructive than military warfare We
have now reached q point where we no
longer know who are our friends or who
our enemies"
Like Thirty Years War.
The truth Is that the situation today
presents q striking parallel to the Thirty
Years War between all the European ma
tons during the 18th century. Like the
present one. it was a devastating and fierce
war because people fought for principle.
At that time it was a religious principle
the struggle between Professionalism and
Catholicism. Today it is democracy versus
dictatorship.
Then. as now, the forces of Professionalism
comparable to democracy-were loose and
disorganized. The Catholic Church, Or
gained by the Jesuit Order. was as solid
in its purpose as the totalitarian states
are at present. Professionalism. despite its
firm hold on the peoples. had dissipated
itself in doctrinal wrangles. If we look
today at the dissenstons and vagaries of
the democratic states with parliamentary
regimes we can realize how apt is the
parallel.
Before 1888 Germany and Italy were
negligible powers. They had neither money.
gold. nor sufficient raw materials to build
up their ornaments. Yet by the sheer
will of their dictators they have managed
to overcome these difficulties; they flung
the gauntlet at the rest of the world and
are by way Of imposing their political
philosophy on other nations.
Wherever we look there is q growing
tendency to emulate the Hitler and Musso-
lini systems. Only last Saturday II Duce
took issue with certain anti-Fascist state
ments from the United States and warned
the world that the "totalitarian states
would march together to the end, if threat
ened with doctrinal war by the so-called
democracies." And this ultimatum came
on the heels of recently suppressed
Fascist instruction in Brazil
The situation in Central and South
America worries the White House and the
State Department even more than events
in Europe and the Far East There is
not one republic south of the Rio Grande