Evening star., 1941-03-03
VII. EUROPE LOOKS AT
AMERICA.
By LELAND STOWE.

When we returned to Athens from
our last front trip l was in luck.
There were letters from home at
last and also several issues of
American papers which had come
through from somewhere. That was
just after Christmas and the date
of the latest paper was Septem-
ber IL.
You might think that a pretty
stale newspaper. 1t was three and
half months old, but I almost ate
its colums while flying across the
Mediterranean to Cairo. After all,
an American newspaper Of any vint-
age has long been as rare and
treasured an article, anywhere in
the Balkans, as Havana cigar. l
know about both because I bought
the last Havana that any Bucharest
tobacco shop will see until after
the war-and that was way back in
September.
Well, Americas news of mid-Sep-
tember can be a quite wonderful
Christmas present, especially when
you've been living for seven months
in countries where you're much more
cut of from home developments
than Admiral Byrd was in Little
America. We moved around so
much we couldn't get home radio
programs but now and then. For
printed news we had to depend, like
the Balkan publics, upon such items
and interpretations as the NaZi Off
cial news agency, DNB, thought 1t
useful to supply to the press of
Southeastern Europe about a very
few American developments or al
legged developments. Yes, we did
learn that Roosevelt was reelected
but I was never able to find out
how many States he carried until
I got home the other day.
Faith in America.
This, by the way of confessing
that the folks in Tahiti are much
better informed about the United
States than it's been possible for
me to be for a long time. This also
by way of explaining how most
Europeans today have a tremen-
dous lot more faith in America
than they have information about
the sharply divided and confused
state of mind which prevails among
Americans at this moment.
In all the neutral or now-occupied
countries where I have worked since
Finland, one year ago, have en-
countered extremely interesting con-
victions about Americas interests
and Americas role in regard to the
war. Most of them have been based
fundamentally upon the amazing
faith which almost all Europeans
have in the United States as a Ma
ton which already wears the man
tie of world leadership and there
fore-so they assume and believe
could not conceivably toss that
mantle into the ashcan.
Europe looks at America.
You can repeat this at least three
times to let the meaning sink in.
Yes, today Europe looks and looks
and never stops looking at America.
Maybe you have already reacted
something like this: Sure, they
want us to go over and fight their
war for them" But before we get
too hasty let me say, in all honesty
that there's lot more than that
to the very great awareness which
European peoples have for the U
S. A. at the present time. I really
doubt whether scores of millions OF
lnarticulate Europeans ever hao
such universal belief in Americans
and American leadership, even ir
1918 and 1919. as they have today.
Speak Of America With Hope.
Since this is supposed to be a re.
porting job, let me try to give you
straightforward synthesis of what
Europeans currently think about
America. Although I have been ir
21 countries since the war began
this analysis, for accuracy's sake
is limited to the II Northern, East
ern and Southeastern European
countries where I have spent most
of my time in the past year. II
seems unquestinnable, however, that
the popular attitude in occupied
countries like Holland and Belgium
and in neutral Switzerland, for in
stance, is much the same. I have
had countless conversations with al
kinds of people-with cabinet mem
bers and restaurant walters, with
counts and chambermaids, with
army officers and soldiers, with
Scandinavian labor union members
and (through an interpreter) with
Rumsnian peasants harvesting theil
wheat. Well, with quite a hodge
podge of Old World citizens of al
classes. I never met any one
except an outright Nazi. an outright
Fascist or an outright Communist
who didn't speak of America with
hope in his voice.
Millions of Europeans, the over
whelming majority of Europeans
look at America with hope. Tt
them America means hope-anc
hope means opportunity and gen.
erosity. 1t also means leadership
and championship of freedom and
above all, human decency. Some.
times the simple assumption thai
America couldn't mean anything
less than these things has been al.
most frightening. Sometimes i
seemed that Clara, our Helsink
chambermaid, and a Bulgarian tax
driver believed more in American!
than we believe in ourselves.
I remember the Firms, the Nor
wegians and Greeks especially, hov
they all felt that America was thu