Oct. 7.
It is not too much to say that Europe's loss through the death of Dr, Stresemann is second only to Germany's, If proof of this the needed, we have only to com-Pare the relationships between Germany and the other Powers a8 they were when he took office As Foreign Minister with what they are to-day. In 1923 the grotesque depreciation of the mark, due to deliberate, unbridled use of the printing pres: the French occupation Ruhr; and Germany's passive resistance, with its ultimate breakdown, had left on the one side sullen resentment, on the other A general feeling of misgiving and suspicion. If there were those who thought that France was going too far, others wondered gloomily what Germany would ultimately do, and reealled the fate of the peace of Amiens with forebodings of a Parallel in the present century. Looking back now, it is easy to say that this period was part vf the inevitable aftermath of war; but that it has been so happily survived is unquestio ately due to the genius, devotion and great-heartedness of one man, Dr, Stresemann had a double task to perform. He had to persuade his countrymen that must face their destiny like 3 and he had to persuade Allied Powers that that as defined at the Versailles Conference, was more than any country could be expected to bear. Above all, he had to dispel that combined runtment and suspicion which was good neither for Germany nor for Europe, Nothing short of the volume of his life which will presently appear would be enough to show all the steps by which he reached his goal. But undoubtedly the success of the Locarno conference was at least much due to Dr, Stresemann as to some others who reaped from it such laurels; and it is a very great tribute to his work in general that before his death he should actually have complet ed arrangements for the removal of foreign troops from German Soil, These are the outward and visible signs of a new spirit in Burope, which emboldens us to feel that the war is indeed a thing of the past, A new feeling of confidence and understanding ig rising above the misgivings and prejudices of the past. Such ig: the legacy left by the great German statesman, who had no thought for himself, nor for the repeated warnings' of doctors and friends, in comparison with the work he had found to do, and did.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.