The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1920-12-16
REDUCTION Of 1
r.. - ARMAMENT Up
Subject to Be Discussed in
Congress as Economic
s' @~ Remedy ..e =
BORAH PROPOSAL"
20. .e... &C., TO LIMIT NAVIES

Naming w ullu AAOkP 4
Mo,,a Than Reducing Expenses-For-
eign Countries Can't Buy Our Ooous
9 When Taxes Are So High.
Bv DAVID LAWRENCE.
fSnecial Despatch to The Reformer.)
Copyright 1920.
WASHINGTON, Dec. 16.-Disarma-
ao,+-or TO be exact, reduction of arma-
menfs-is at last coming to the front IN
congress as a concrete remedy LOT tne
6parcia and economic crisis which the
whole world faces.
II is begining to be realized IN the ma
tionaI capital that the way to reduce taAeS
&c to reduce expenditures and the way 10
coll cotton and wheat and other commod
;+ios abroad is to make it possible Tor
fora;on countries to pay for our exports
The demand from business men that taAe9
ba reduced and the cutlery OF the FARMERS
and rottOn growers that foreign hlafheCs
he sprovided has brought out the rae Iha.
the whole world situation Is anecteu pS
tho enormous sums of money that must pe
snent on war-making apparatus ana Per
sonell. @.'a 81 1oodors
Frnm Senator Borah, one OF the leaaefS
nc the proup of ''ir~reconcilables Whlch
has been opposed to any sort OF IiiceInu
tioaaE sn, comes the latest proposal loI an
agreement between Great Britain, Japae
and the United States to lnlt IAe SIZE =
ornaments. simultaneously the assem-
L1v of the league of nations at Geneva
takes action recommending TO various
Governments the reduction OF armamehIS'
. Rebind the action of the league al
Geneva is IAN even more specltIc Suggestion
from the fnanciers of the world VINO met
at BRUSSELS recently and considered now
sA--As~, ,nTnhf no 1mnrnXpU
and normally in trade restored. Inc text
of it's recommendation is pertinent to the
present move in congress.
s-rPbe first STEP says the official rec
characterization of the conference, rs TO
bring public opinion in every country TO
realize the essential facts of the SITUATION
and Darticularly the need of re-establlSh-
ing DubIfc finances on a sound basis as a
preliminary to the execution OF those
social reforms which the world demands.
Nearly every government Is being
messed to incur fresh expenditure
.largely on pafIiatfves which aggravate
the@very evils against which they are Ill
-1p4feA, The country which accepts the
,olicV of budget deficits is treading the
~sIinnarsv path which leads to general ruin.
TO escape from that path no sacrlhce Is
too great.
The presented to the confer
pnce show that on an average some ~ per
cent of the national expenditure Is sun
being devoted to the maintenance or arma-
ments and to preparations tor.War- Inc
conference desires. to affirm with the Ut
most emphasis that the world cannot al
ford fhfsLexpenditure. Only, by a frank
nOlicy Of mutual cooperation can the ma
lions hope to regain their old prosperity,
and to secure that result the whole re
sources of each country must be devoted
strictly to productive purposes: The con-
most oar
nestly to the council of tire league Of ma
tions the desirability Of comforting at once
with the several governments concerned
with a view tag~secHring a general and
agreed reduction Of the crushing burden
of ornaments which, on their existing
scale. still impose on the Impoverished
Deople of the woFld@ sacrifice their re-
sources and imperr1lling their recovery
from the ravages OF war. The conference
hopes that the assembly of the league will
take energetic action to this end.
The assembly of the league has taken
action. 1t first asked the United States
TO send unofficial representatives, but
President Wilson declined on the ground
that America had not entered the league
of nations.~ But proposals have arisen
from Senator Walsh of Montana, Demo
crat, and Senator BOrah. Republican, of
Idaho. to bring about international agree
1hent on armaments just the same. There
ig-sUme suggestion here that Great Brit
ain andeJapan and France will use as IN
excuse to retain their ornaments the fact.
that the most powerful nation of all-the
limited States-refuses to join. Secretary
Daniels has recommended a big naval
Building program and Secretary Baker
has proposed a large army all on the the
ofy that until there is international agree
Iilant it is unsafe fer America to take the.
Initiative.
President-Elect Harding is committed
8aNa reduction of armament. His cam
uaign speeches, as well as the Republican
platform, have urged it. There's a proyi-
sion on the statute books today which
authorizes the president of the United
States to call an international conference
on disarmament. Mr.. Wilson didn't avail
himself of this privilege because he hoped
to- accomplish the same thing through the
special armament commission of the
league of nations to which America was
recently invited to send delegates.
THE subject is passing out of the realm
of the academic because it so vitality af-
fects taxation and the domestic prosperity.
Officials and economists insist thai if a
general program of reducing rmame
could be agreed upon the following things
would probably happen:
Income taxes would be reduced because
foreign countries would be able to use
some of the money they are spending for
Armament in paying America something
ON the big war debt of ten billions. If
payfnents wege Radeont the var debt, the
credit Of Eufopean countries woufd@be en-
shaneedsaAmerican wheat andzeott0n and
sOther goods would find a ready market
Hbroad because the pategaf- exchange sWOVA
go up as the credit<of each country adi