Interest in the Oslo group of Powers became evident when Paul van Zeeland, the Belgian Prime Minister, visited the United States on an economic mission. American commentators suddenly remembered that there was an influential association of European Powers—the Scandinavian countries, Holland and Belgium—who were striving to remain detached from the two camps into which Europe seemed to be falling, They had no historical reasons for disliking Germany, Italy and the smaller powers associated with them and did not share the emotional dislike for those powers which seemed to be rampant in France, England and their camp-follower nations. They were neutral in the sense in which the United States understood neutrality and seemed to offer an excellent method of approach to Europe, to be the bases on which European good will could be built. Backed by America's moral support their influence it wes hoped would increase.
This does not mean that Italy and Germany are considered entirely blameless, The President himself in his message already quoted referred to mations whose rulers sought autocratic power and which "to-day must'bear the primary definite responsibility for jeopardizing world peace." But the general opinion in the United States is that these notions have been as much sinned against as are sinning.
There exists a small section of American opinion which gives outright support to Italy and Germany (and Congressman Dickstein feels they menace American liberties). Another small section devotedly follows Lenin snd the Communist International (and Congressmen Fish feels they menace American liberties). But prevailing American thought lumps all three dictatorships together italy, Germany and Russia—and applies the same criticism to them all. The line of cleavage is between Democracy and Dictatorship, "we or they." United States policy does not favour the idea of crushing the dictatorships by military or economic measures, She feels thet they might as it were be tamed and domesticated. Dictatorship is a symptom of a diseased internal condition. Cure the disease, which is chiefly economic end the symptom will disappear, or rather the dangerous policies associated at present with autocratic governments will be abandoned.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.