Evening Star Newspaper, October 25, 1936, Page 14

A—14 Playwright Sees No War Peril Except in Hitler’s Psychology Sherwood Thinks World Opinion Is Against Conflict. One of the foremost Americain playwrights, whose “Idiot's De- light,” the 1935 Pulitzer prize play, was a barbed indictment of the forces that stir up war, tells here, “ on his return from an extended visit in Europe, why he takes an optimistic view of the international situation. BY ROBERT E. SHERWOOD. NEW YORK, October 24 (N.AN.A). —The danger bf another world war is decreasing. Every day the forces of sanity seem to gain a little in unity and strength. If this gain can continue—if they ean only avoid the outbreak of calam- ity for another five years—then the world may wake up in amazement to discover that its dream of permanent peace has become reality. But the odds against such an awakening are | still as heavy as all the armaments which the world is piling up. I am not speaking as an expert. Al- though I have spent a great deal of time in Europe, I have had no inti- mate chats with Hitler, Mussolini, | Stalin, Blum or Anthony Eden. So| when I talk about international affairs I'm only guessing. However, in this present chaos, my | guess is as good as the average ex- pert's sworn statement. You will hear it said that the situ- ation today is alarmingly like 1914. It's nothing of the kind. There's a tremendous force now operating to| prevent war, the underestimated force of public opinion. The supply of willing cannon fodder isn't what it was. The men on the street and on the farm don't want to fight. Purthermore, there has been a| slackening of martial enthusiasm | among the politicians and the gen- erals and the old gentlemen who cheer when the boys march off. They realize that there’ll be no such thing as a “war zone” the next time. Civillans will share with front-line soldiers the privilege of being blown to bits at any moment. In 1914 the peaple of Europe wanted war. They wanted excitement, escape | from the monotony of their peasant | lives. They had no conception of what | modern war is like. They had en-| joyed comparative peace since the| battle of Waterloo, 100 years before. In fact, during that century the only really terrible conflict, under anything like modern conditions. was our own | Civil War. As a result of that, we| had become the only real peace lover | of all the great powers. Now the vast majority of the human race shares our opinion of the suicidal | stupidity of war. They do not, how- ever, enjoy our apparent immunity from it. | We seem to be safely removed from | any involvement in the strife of Eu- rope or the Orient. But the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans aré steadily be-| eoming narrower. We must realize re- | gretfully that, in the time of Napoleon, | the English Channel was an impregna- ble defense; now it's a creek. London} today is the most vulnerable of all the | great capitals. 1 read a statement, sponsored by the | British government, that the first shot of the next war might easily take the | form of a bombing raid on London, in- | volving 250 enemy planes, carrying | 2,000 tons of bombs. In one swift | stroke, an unannounced enemy couldl cripple London's lighting, power and | water systems, could kill 10,000 people, | wound 30,000 more and do damage to the extent of $200,000,000! And that would be only the first blow. How long could civilization survive | tinder a series of impacts such as that? How long could the United States go on living in peace in a world populated with homicidal maniacs? England has ample reason to do| everything in her power to avert war | before it is too late. And England is | working overtime to do just that. So is France, though not always with the | greatest diplomatic skill. It can safely be said that in every democratic nation the sentiment against war is just as overwhelming as it is here on the con- tinent of North America, and, where | freedom of speech exists, that senti- ment is given vigorous expression by the voters. ‘There is no freedom of speech in the dictatorships—Fascist Italy, Nazi Ger- many, Soviet Russia and imperialist Japan. But much of the menace of | these turbulent powers is exaggerated. In Italy all the signs indicate a Ppleasant change from the we-can-lick- everybody attitude. Mussolini has said, “We are now one of the satisfied na- tions.” Which means that Mussolini himself is satisfied that his own power | 1s now 5o firmly established that there’s no need for any further furious dis- plays of Caesarism. At least not for the time being. Japan is still on the rampage in China, but even her most fanatical militarists are extremely reluctanj to provoke a big war unless they are goaded into it by England, the United States or Soviet Russia. The chances of such goading are remote. In Germany, is the real source of I New AUTOMATIC Radio Phonograph ROBERT E. SHERWOOD. " most of the nightmares which disturb the sleep of countless honest, peaceful citizens in England, France and the whole. civilized world (including Ger- many herself). Hitler is the most thoroughly un- known quantity this side of the planet Mars. He is a mass of psychological contradictions. Kaiser Wilhelm the Second was immeasurably more under- standable and predictable—even, you | may well say, more human. The colossal vitality and the docile | obedience of the German people are completely at Hitler's command. He is rapidly organizing them and equipping | them into as fearsome a unit of ag- gression as the world has ever seen. When that unit reaches the peak of | its perfection, when Dr. Hjalmar| Schacht conveys to the Wilhelmstrasse | the news that the treasury doesn't | contain the price of one more loaf of | pumpernickel, and all the resources | have been used up, then Hitler will | have to burst out in some direction. ‘Which way will he burst? Hitler says he will move eastward, against Russia, But Europe is asking whether, when he says that, he really means “westward, against France” | Hitler's words and deeds don't always agree with each other, I think that this time he means what he says. He knows something | which Wilhelm Hohenzollern didn't; know: That England will permit no | German conquest of France. England ‘ is the one power for whom Hitler en- | tertains a profound and wholesomei respect. And the one thing that is| reasonably certain in all his improb- able policy is that he will seek to| pick no flights with the Tommies against whom he fought in Flanders 20 years ago. 1 If Hitler attacks Russia, he will find himself involved in a long and ter- rible struggle. I believe that such a war may yell be localized, if. the other | nations keep their hea I further | believe (and here is where my guess- | ing becomes completely fantastic) | that, when and if Hitler does start a | war, his treasured friend Mussolini wont’ join him. Indeed, if it were to become a world war, the chances are that Mussolini would find it convenient to join with the anti-Nazi majority. At this moment, Germany and Rus- Furhace, Range and Stove Parts formmore than 6,000 brands. Fries, Beall & Sharp Anplied Over Frame Sidewalls, _ Free Estimates. ENTERPRISE ROOFING CO. 2125 R. L POTOMAC AVE, NE. LOCAL or L/?NG DISTANCE Estimates on Moving, Stordge or Packing Gladly Furnished. SMITH’S TRANSFER AND STORAGE CO. 1313 You St. N.W, North 3343 We believe this set to be the finest value in a combination at its price. It plays 10 or 12-inch records auto- matically, has a won- derful tone, all latest features and the cabi- net is unusually well de- signed, requiring a mini- mum of floor space. $310 “Musically Tested” by . Kitt's Exclusive Process THE SUNDAY STAR. WASHINGTON, D. C, OCTOBER 25 1936—PART ONE. sia are snarling at each other over the tragic carnage in Spain. It's improb- able that this snarling will have any disastrous results. The Spanish civil war has nothing to do with the rest of the world, ex- cept that one side is vaguely labeled “Communist” and the other “Fascist.” What is happening ‘r. Spain is what happened in France in the terror— bloody, unbridled revolt against the centuries of medieval repression, ex- cept that Spain has been slower by a hundred and fifty years in coming to the point. It isn’t so much a war as a riot, in which the fundamentai motive is the passion of an anarchistic mob for senseless destruction and spill- ing of blood. That applies to both sides. No matter which side gains the nominal advantage, unhappy Spain is certain to suffer through many years of anarchy and free-for-all murder. There' is no legitimate cause for world war in the Spanish situation. There is no such cause to be found anywhere but in the baffing char- acter of one little man—Adolf Hitler. On his dubious will rests responsibility 1330 G Street for the lives of countless millions of people, the security of civilization jtself. He is proud to describe him- self as the supreme bulwark against communism. But, if he precipitates world war, he will precipitate world revolution. That thought will act as a deterrent on all dictators whose uniform equipment includes a chip on the shoulder. (Copyright, 1036, by the North American Newspaper Alllance nc.) —_— STUDENTS IN CLASH PSS FORT COLLINS, Colo., October 24 (#).—Police, firemen and sheriff’s offi- cers combined forces today to stop | student * fighting after Colorado Uni- versity's 9-to-7 foot ball victory over Colorado State College. Officers said dozens of students suf- fered black eyes and bruises in fights that grew out of Colorado University efforts to uproot goal posts. One officer fired & tear gas shell into the crowd. KING! - PALAC Bt ossin new B oy TO BEGIN SERIES “Wealth of the Poor” to Be Rev. 0. J. Randall’s Theme. At Potomac Heights Community Church Rev. O. J. Randall will begin a serles of sermons today at 11 am. on “The Beattitudes,” the first being on “The Wealth of the Poor.” At 8 pm. the sermon will be on “Saved or Lost?” The Executive Committee will meet Tuesday evening. The Sunday school officers have been elected as follows: Assistant general superintendent, D, K. 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