The sun., 1919-01-17
Peace Council Seems About
to Reject Another of
Wilson'S Points.
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OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Reduction Of Navies Posi-
bic Only Through Guar
antee of Durable Peace.
SECRECY STIRS UP ROW
President Retains His Silence,
Evidently Awaiting Express
sion of Home Views.
SECRECY STIRS UP ROW
ny LAURENCE HILLS.
Std1 Correspondent of THE SUN.

star Correspondent of THE SUN.
Copyright. 1919: all rights reserped
PARIS, Jan. 16.-A canvass of the
intelligent opinion represented at the
peace conference fails to disclose thus
far any great hope Of immediate and
drastic limitation Of nrmaments re-
sulting from the conference.
As this was one Of the Presidents
most specific points and one upon
which the hopes Of the European
masses are set ms the result Of his
utterances, this feeling of pesslmism
would seem surprising. With the
German military power largely re-
moved the military programmes Of
other nations unquestlonably will un-
dergo some curtailment, but It will
not he a drastic limitation to the
lowest point consistent with domestic
safety such ms President Wilson's
principle calls for.
The talks which THE Sun corre-
spoRdent has had with some OF the
most liberal minded European states
cn-men who have studied the ques-
ton closely-revealed that 1t is their
conviction that such Limitation as ths
President calls for would be possible
only through the guarantee OF an alb
solutely durable peace.
Force Needed 10 Back u.
Only by backing up an international
tribunal with an international force.
they say, could th- nations of the
world be assured of a really lasting
peace, and it is the consensus that
this is at present impossible, for the
reason that the world is not ready
to give any such agency the rights OF
supersovereignty that would be re-
Quired.
IT is upon this question of SOY
ereignty that the whole question seems
to turn. Without 1t the scrapping
of the worlds navlcs or Il large part
of them, together with forts and ar.
senals, about which some of those
who acclaim President Wilson are
now dreaming, appears impossible.
With such a sovereignty the world
might disarm Itself, but to get it ma.
tionallsm would have to be super
seeded by an internationalism and tho
sovereign pride of nations would
have to be sacrificed to an extent to
which no nation would be willing
TO go.
No statesman, even of the reaction
airy school, probably would make the
prediction now that no league Of ma
tions plan could be Incorporated in
the peace treaty, for the reason that
nil feel that something of the kind
must be brought about to satisfy the
people of the world; yet no compro-
mise plan involving the exercise Of
the right of supersoverelgnty which,
in the opinion of intelligent thinkers,
would afford the only real guarantee
of anything worthy to he called
durable peace seems possible Of at
tainment
Presidents Plan suIi a secret.
1t is because this feeling Is current
in all conference circles that so much
surprise IS expressed that after
month spent in Europe President Will
son, who Is universally regarded as
the apostle Of peace, still shrouds his
ideas on the subject in so much mys-
terry.
Investigation reveals that even the
allied Premiers do not know any more 4,
about the details Of his plan that the
President has vouchsafed to the peo-
pie at home, and there is no evidence
that his idens have been drafted into
definite form.
Any number of plans have been
put on paper for the Presidents in
spectlon, and II Is known that various
features of these were combined at
the Presidents request and submitted
10 MN hS poSSlDlc pdels iOr tnS
Wilson plan.
The reports of the last few days
nrc to the effect that the President Is
still dissatisfied, and had practically
torn up the summary. ohliging the
flve experts engaged on the task to
regroup the arguments.
Three Plans Are Published.
What Is exciting great interest in
nll allied circles now is the contrast
between the American policy Of with