Whether the U.S. State Department will succeed in making the country "foreign policy conscious" or not depends just as much on international developments, as it will upon any persuasion that the department may have to offer in the course of propaganda, There is a curious parallel between the United States and Great Britain in this respect. There was a time, and that not so many years ago, when the average Briton was content to let foreign policy Jock after itself, secure in the belief of the inviolability of the British Isles and their ability to look after the Empire. To a very large extent in recent years that attitude has changed and it is rightly contended that the British are more foreign policy conscious now than they have ever been in the past, That may be a source of strength or weakness for any government, since now none would dare to declare war of which the mass of the people disapproved, though at the same time an approved war would have behind it all the force of the majority of the people, There have been signs in the United States for quite a while that, pleasing as the isolationist doctrine may appear to some, there was about it serious dangers, not the least of which was that the country might be lulled into a feeling of false security and permit of developments which may prove injurious to widespread American interests. But behind that there is a question of principle which will appeal to the people of the United States, They have been seeing for years the wilful breaching of international treaties, and a decline in international morals which must necessarily make them wonder exactly with which countries are their signed pledges still good. There has of late been increasing tension between the United States and Germany, and.it is reported that this latest outburst of Jewish persecution has done quite a deal to intensify it. Public opinion in the United States will not tolerate persecution of peoples ill adapted to protect themselves, and a question of principle is arising whicn will do more than reinforce decisions on general policy and magnify issues which might otherwise be dealt with in a spirit of goodwill, If the State Department is able to bring home to the people of the United States that they can no longer continue a policy of isolation in foreign affairs, that the nation will have to play the part that its greatness is' dictating abandonment of isolation will mean but one thing, The United States will take her rightful place as another of those great countries which are the remaining bulwarks of democracy. It might not necessarily mean that in all circumstances the United States would fight, but it would mean that in any struggle which was forced upon the democratic countries of th world the latter would receive the sympathy of that powerful nation, while it might also mean that the United States would probably be prepared to go to enormous lengths to prevent their collapse, If a collapse did occur the United States would have isolation, thyest upon her, and in a manner to imperil alf those interests which the State Department perceives have to be protected.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.