Life — November 16, 1922 — page 14: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

ASHINGTON, Nov. 13—I have only this minute landed on my native shore from the S. S. Olympic. Worn out as I am by the incidents of travel (no one can believe the trouble I had just because I filed my passport instead of my customs declaration—they simply refused to accept the latter document at the passport office)—worn out as I am, I say, I can scarcely wait to deliver the message that I have brought back to my fellow citi- zens. Owing to Demands on my time at home, my trip was neces- sarily brief. However I had a whole day in England and almost as much in Paris. In London Lloyd George and I had breakfast together, and I had a pleasant meeting with President Millerand in the French capital. And I travelled the length of Germany— in a sleeper, it is true, but then one can’t pick and choose. I should have seen something of Austria, too, if I had not happened to get on the Wiesbaden train by mistake. And though I did not ac- tually visit Italy I got a very good idea of conditions in that country froma young fellow I metin Deauville who, I believe, had been born there. On the whole I think that my itinerary furnishes quite as good a basis for conclusions as that of most returning travellers who are settling Europe's affairs in our newspapers. I Shall Not Describe conditions there further than to say that they are indescribable. When- ever I attempt to go into details someone comes along, tripping me up on some point or other. I much prefer to dwell on the big, broad aspects of the situation. It is probably my training in the Sen- ate that has enabled me to grasp so quickly the big and broad side ; LUYAS SNE «SE FE Save Europe, Says Sounder And Let America Wait of a question. It was the big, broad side of the Bonus Bill, for instance, that enabled us to pass it without worrying about such petty details as where the few necessary billions were coming from. The Big, Broad, Burning message, then, which I bring back from abroad, is that America must The foreign nations save Europe. “In London Lloyd George and I had breakfast together.” realize it; or at least they will real- ize it if we keep on telling them. Our Traditional Aloofness—tradi- tional at least since the League of Nations came up in the Senate— must give way to the spirit of co- operation. It is needless, I hope, for me to say that I do not mean material ‘co-operation. I should be the first to shudder at the proposal of our entering the League, where we might actually get embroiled in help- ing settle various questions. Nor should I favor any modification of our tariff, which has pretty well killed - any chance Europe had of paying us in goods. And I should warmly protest against our taking a more active part in the sittings of the vari- ous commissions which are trying to untangle financial knots. As for the sugges- tion that we help restore tranquillity by cancelling the Allies’ debts to us—even that part of them that was incurred in beating the common enemy—it is, of course, too absurd to mention. No, Our Help must be purely moral. We must lose no chance of telling the Euro- pean Nations what is wrong with them, and of pointing out to them, kindly but firmly, that they must get on their feet again. We ought even to tell them how to do it. I cannot think of any plans at present, but I am sure that four or five hun- dred effective ones have been suggested by official and unoffi- cial Americans re- turning from Europe in the last month or two. In fact, our at- titude ought to be that of a very right- eous Sunday School teacher toward his lit- tle pupils. God forbid that at this critical stage of affairs we should fail in what may be called our moral mandatory. It seems to me so vital that we should extend this helping hand that I quite expect the next session of Congress .to be fully occupied in passing resolutions telling Europe what to do. Our own strikes, coal shortages, Herrin massacres, labor troubles, election scandals and other matters can wait. Sounder. “I had a pleasant meeting with President Millerand in the French Capital.” comicbooks.com