The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1939-04-21
EDITORS NOTE-When opinions are
expressed in these columns. they are those
OF the news analyst. and not necessarily
of the newspaper.
Europe

@There are in Europe t.oo madmen
Hitler and Mussolini. There are
in Europe f,Co damn fools Uho sleep
Chamberlain and Daladier."
Such was the parting shot of Al
bania's King Fog as he fled italian
invasion. Symbolic of British
French lethargy were Mr.. Cham
berlain's warships, which lay at an
Choir off Greek Corfu, within cam
non range of the invader. One shot,
said Fog, would have stopped the
Italians. But one shot might also
have been the sendof for a conflict
more frightful than the one which
started from pistol shot at nearby
Sarajevo rs years ago.
When II lDuce captured Albania,
. month had passed since Britain
and France dropped their futile ap-
peasement policy for a Stop Hitler
Stop Mussolini program. Poland,
Ruinania and Turkey were fairly
well lined up with the democracies
but such Balkan states as Jugo-
Slavia, Bulgaria and Hungary knew
when they were well off. Align
ment with Britain would invite in
vasion from Italy or Germany.
Meanwhile Berlin's covetous eyes
began looking at Switzerland and
the Netherlands, while Herr Doktor
Paul Joseph Goebbels shouted from
his propaganda office a German an
swer to the key question facing Eu-
rope today: Will Britain really fight
to defend any lesser European ma
tion's independence?
Herr Goebbels said no, and many
an alert Britisher said the same
thing, wondering if aggressive Ger
many and Italy were not right in
maintaining that Great Britain has
passed her empirical peak and is
falling into decadence. Under the
appeasement policy it was only
passingly embarrassing for Mr..
Chamberlain to make repeated con-
cessions for peace's sake. But under
the new policy Britain at last faces
reality; Europe's dictators are OBJ
viously forcing a showdown to DEM
onstrate that Mr.. Chamberlain will
never fight to protect them, there
fore the little nations had best beg
for mercy from Hitler and Mussolini.
Hence observers agree the worst
OF Europe's recurrent crises-and
England's, too-may come within
the present month. Neither Britain
nor France have backed up their
new understanding policy in the
case of Albania, whose occupation
was direct violation of the Anglo
italian pact of 1888. A swift Ger
man jab at Poland or an Italian
march into Greece would provide
the ultimate test; if Britain fails to
march in such a situation, then Eu-
ropean democracies are indeed de-
cadent and the Old World has new
undisputed masters in Hitler and
Mussolini. At the same time Mr..
Chamberlain's government would
undoubtedly collapse.
On the other hand, if Britain and
France act to block the next dictator
aggression, there is a pathetically
good likelihood of general European
warfare.
Trade
State trade barriers are usually
grandchildren of panicky, depres-
sion-ridden legislatures. Though Sec
tional barriers (like North-sponsored
high freight rates in alleged dis
elimination against poorer Southern
states) are also to blame, most of
them spring from a forlorn hope
that the individual commonwealth
can protect its own prosperity by
discriminating against tradesmen
from neighboring states. Sample
barriers are: ~ preference to
home-state industries, often result
ing in monopolies and exorbitant
prices; (2) excessively high license
rates for out-of-state truckers; (3)
unreasonable sanitary laws which
bar dairy imports.