Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-02-22
bv the exigencies Of the OCCASION when

present here. Paris has been the raj
lying ground for all these forces of in
visible government standing against
things for which the president stands,
and which have been quick to seize
upon the narrowest digressions in the
effort to prove American bad faith.
That plans Of intrigue have miscar-
ried has been due largely to complete
candor and frankness on the part or
the American leader in all his prl-
vate conferences. In his fourteen
peace points has been found the touch
stone to compose differences in the
many questions that have, arisen.
The league of nations, no annexa-
tons, armament, economic relations,
navigation and other problems are
covered in the policies declared by
President Wilson
There is one other problem that
threatens great difficulty in solution
and that is the matter of PREPARATIONS.
Into this subject Technology enters
in order to determine what is meant
by PREPARATION. President Wilson de-
fines the American attitude, which is
that reparation should satisfy only
actual damages suffered. The British
are proponents of the Interpretation
that reparation should and does cover
full costs of the war
Therein is the choke point. Com
promise of definition and of appIica-
ton will eventually be reached, but the
process may be slow and pain-hl. Pre-
mier Hughes il in the forefront of the
contention that reparation must be
comprehensive. He insists that every
Australian who placed q mortgage on
his house in order to buy bonds for
war making is entitled to individual
compensation, apart from. that which
his government may exact for money
spent He insists that the French
peasant he Unidentified whose house
was shellei or burned.
President Wilson will need his
greatest strength to smooth out this
wrinkle. which is steadily becoming
wider and deeper. Thus far Bernard
M. Baruch and the other American
members of the commission that Is
looking into matters involving repair
alton, have kept discussions on an I'M
personal and friendly basis.
cit need not be thought there are no
backwaters and by-washcs in the cur
rent which has been set in motion by
the president. for there are, and there
are stagnant places also. 1t would be
a false impression were the public led
TO believe that all conference opera
tons have assayed pure gold. Some of
them have failed to produce favorable
results.
ImpaSsc ON Russia.
None has been more disappointing
"a, hIn than the lnna SEp
attending the Russian situation. 1t
requires no clairvoyant to understand
that the peace of the world is heavily
rependent upon the publication of
conditions in the vast territories once
ruled by the ear in European Russia.
Nothing has been done TO that end,
and what is more distressing, there is
nothing in sight that promises relief.
True, there are thousands of pana-
ceas offered, but none has sufficient
merit for detailed consideration. The
Prinkipo project is losing ground
daily. In many quarters the convic-
ton Is strong that the only thing to
do is to let the fires of Bolshevism
burn themselves out, for fear that an
attempt to extinguish them might
only spread the conflagration.
SOME see III lllt ltII uhtctNliNt "a
Germany means of fighting the
Russian menace. Russia must be re-
garded up to this time, as one of the
signal failures of the peace con-
ference. Since President Wilson has
assumed, or has had thrust upon
him the leadership Of the conference
the failure becomes his.
SO far there has been no manifesto
ton of vision or development OF
constructive craftsmanship on the
part of President Wilson or his col
laborators which contains hope of the
betterment of conditions in Russia
That is the burden he carries back
home with him, SO long as it exists
it will mar the record of his accom-
plishments.
/ am in position to say that Presi-
dent Wilson, while holding his mind
open, is by no means assured of the
depth of the sincerity of German re-
forms. He thinks it a difficult task
to change overnight, so to speak
the national habit of thought; hu
he ia willing to be convinced tina
German professions will be made
good,
He has lively sympathy with thu
French attitude and with the desire
of France to become safeguarded
against Teutonic threat.
Fifty years OF fear and four years
of the worst realization of that feal
make the position of France clear
is the phrase in which he summed W
the French attitude to me on the eve
of his departure.
lie added that in his view the per