THREE LITTLE LETTERS

While millions in America are calling for bread and beer and the concern of every man is centered on his immediate demands, small notice is given to a grim shift in the undercurrent of the world's news. The years following 1918 found the leaders of Europe optimistic about the cause of permanent peace. Thinking men everywhere held out hope, and sound opinion declared another war highly improbable. Now, there is a different story, and the average man is inattentive.

Peace talk today is largely confined to League of Nations prize essay contests and women's club lectures. Yet it is hard for Americans to believe that all Europe is arming "for the war that is coming." However, there is every reason to believe that an element of truth lurks behind the alarming reports of returning tourists who predict war within the year.

More reliable is the statement that the path of peace in the thirties will be rough going. Major Bratt's challenging book, That Next War?, is a distressing picture of what may be the future. Mussolini with his foot in the boot of Italy bids fair to kick slumbering Mars into action. Germany edges towards the Polish corridor while La Belle France arms herself to the teeth and Hungary eyes her lost provinces in Roumania. If one adds to this score the obvious red flag flying in Moscow the promises of 1918 seem truly dyed in no uncertain hue.