be no annexation of Servian territory or annihilation of the Servian
Kingdom. Whether these assurances were genuine or not is impossible of
determination. We have no right to constitute ourselves arbiters of
their sincerity.


No European Solidarity.

Mr. Beck speaks of "the solidarity of European civilization and the fact
that by policy and diplomatic intercourse ... a United European State
exists, even though its organization be as yet inchoate." This
solidarity is conspicuous only by its utter non-existence. Whatever may
have been achieved by policy and diplomatic intercourse has been marred
and rendered useless by the lines of demarkation of the spheres of
influence of the great powers of Europe and by the racial and
temperamental incongruities of Europe's population.

We read: "Servia had forty-eight hours to answer; ... the other European
nations had barely a day to consider what could be done to preserve the
peace of Europe. Why should an Austro-Servian war compromise the peace
of Europe?" Was it not because of the tangled web of international
diplomacy, the Triple Entente as well as the Triple Alliance?

Referring to a German warning in regard to Austria's demands on Servia,
"the German Foreign Office anticipates that Servia 'will refuse to
comply with these demands'--why, if they were justified?" We grieve at
the shattered ideal of Mr. Beck, who, in the face of the international
calamity which has befallen the world, still can believe that all
justifiable demands are complied with.