The Washington times., 1918-11-28

us into the maintenance of a great
fleet. 1t means that America will
embarkupOn a great naval program;
that il England builds six cruisers
! we will build twelve; that IL she
| builds twenty destroyers we will
| build forty; that IL she builds two
battleships We will build four. That
sort OF thing. it is argued, is not the
way to peace. Il is the way that
logically, in the long run. leads to
the other thing. 1t is not the Amer
ican idea. and how 1t. with its crush
| ing burden of taxes. is to re avoided
will be one OF the big questions at
he peace conference.
Gradual disarmament with the
establishment OF an international po-
lice force is the plan which, in some
form or other. most thoughtful Amer
leans on the other side hope to see
adopted. England is for this all
right but she wants to be the inter
national policeman of the sea. The
question is, Can we afford to let her
be? There is a strong argument on
both sides and political Paris Is deep
! ly stirred. A little concerned already
about the merchant marine now build
ing in the United States, the sugges-
ton that the American nation may
be forced to compete with Great Bri-
ain in the size of its navy certainly
gets the wind up" with the average
Engiishman. He does not like that
idea at all. He knows perfectly well
that his country is in no condition
financially to stand the kind of obm-
petition the United States would give
II forced.
The prediction made the other day
BY an American in Paris that the next
President Of the United States woili
be the man who stands for the biggest
navy would spoil an entire day for
any English statesman. The truth is
that Englandis financial condition.
means a long period OF economy Sor
her and continued high taxes for her
people. A leading EnEiishman, who
married a very beautiful American
woman and who is an authority in the
financial world. a few weeks ago in
London said to me:
Can't Lift Ban.
"'No, We will not be able to remove
the restrictions over here on petrol or
on a number OF other things after
peace comes, because to do so means
that we will have to import them from
America We cannot afford to do that
For the netX ten years We have got
to export as much as We can AMI
import as little as We can until we
get on our financial feet again.
"You see we not only owe you one
billion pounds, but we have a number
OF bad debts, such as the loans we
made to Russia and to some OF the
smaller neutral countries. like Monte
negro. Then, too, we have loaned
France money and we have loaned
Canada, New Zealand. Australia and
other British colonies. So today we
find ourselves faced with the necessity
for rigid retrenchment
Under these circumstances il Is
easy to see why the suggestion that
America may find 1t necessary to
keep pace with England's naval
strength agitates them over there.
France Would Seize Moro.
"As to the French, there is believed
to be a disposition on their part to
reach out for more territory than is
| exactly just. There is talk OF ex.
| tending France to the Rhine and to
| the Alps-God's boundary lines a.
| they call themb here, and to look to
the acquisition of certain German CO.
lonial possessions. In other words,
! the French statesmen are disposed to
| feel that the situation rather justifies
| the picking OF the bones" OF the
enemy, and II is said that Clemen-
ceau, ferocious, forceful and a fighter
wit ha tremendous personality. dc
spite his great age, is sympathetic
with the idea OF gaining some mate
rial advantages for France beyond the
items OF "indemnity and restoration"
Likewise. the French politician is noi
averse to England maintaining her
dominance provided France is per
mitted to maintain her military ma
chine OF several million men. We are
expected to sit still, look pleasant and
agree to this program like a good lit
| tie nation. Some OF our representa-
tives over here say emphatically they
will be damned IL we do.
EnEIand's Love For France.
Nations are funny things, and the
international complications appear to
be endless. Here are some OF the
sideIiEhts as reflected by the poll
ticians: Actually. there is no love
lost between England and France.
Forced together as allies, they never
have and never will understand each
other. An English general said to
me:
J "'our allies. the French, are hne fell