The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-24
WEDNESDAY. NOVEMBER "a, 1920.
This Question of "Insuranee'
Against War.

Against War.
Further Illustration of the differ
ence between a phrase and fact is
supplied by our neighbor the New
York Times in Its comments upon the
bulletin of Mr.. TAFr's League to En-
force Peace, to which we referred
yesterday.
The enthusiasm of Mr.. TAFT's
League over the surprisingly small
premium Of insurance which its actu-
aries have computed Is shared by the
Times. That journal remarks:
''If the United States were MEM
Der, II would have to contribute
S220,296 to the League budget of
1921. Compare this modest cost of
the new machinery to prevent war
with the cost OF the system. under
which the world groans. of prepar-
ing for future wars The only
insurance against war is the League.
The cost of belonging to 1t, as the
League to Enforce Peace says, would
be exactly one-tenth of 1 per cent.
of what we spent on armament dur
ing a single year before the war.
while 1t would amount to something
like two-thousandths Of 1 per cent.
OF what the direct cost OF belliger-
ency reached in 1919 or course.
the indirect cost of war can only be
guessed. Clearly. II Is good busi-
ness for the United States to enter
the League"
1t happens that there could scarcely
nave been n more unfortunate day
for this sort Of arithmetic and this
sort of argument.
When Mr.. TAFr's League and our
esteemed nelghbor were explaining, TO
the delight of the ingenious. the micro
scopic dimensions of the ''premiums"
The United States would have to pay
Sor insurance" against the horrors
and colossal expenses of modern war
fare, the League itself, in session at
Geneva, was In n state of complete
obfuscation on the question Of Ar
menia-who shall fight Turkey. who
shall pay the bills for the fighting
and so on. The general disposition to
devolve the entire job on the United
States, II possible, was as plainly in
evidence as the conflict of material
and purely selfish national interests
underlying the proposals OF the great
Powers now jealousy watching each
others moves in the game for Asia
Minors future exploitation.
1t was decided that somebody must
do it. but who? Mr.. STALA1ovTcH Of
Jugo-Slavia boldly declared that there
had been too much high-soundlng talk
about Armenia unless somebody ap-
piled some real coercion to MUsTAPHA
Kennel the League must confess its
impotence before the world. But,
again, who?
There is talk of instituting q com
mission" for the serious case Of Ar
menia, although the exact plan and
functions of such commission are
not distinct in the Covenant. They
can't find n mandatory for Armenia,
try hard as they may to shoulder the
Job upon somebody else.
Mr.. BALFouR, declining for Great
Britain the task OF protecting Ar
menia. just as Mr.. LLOYD GEORGE de-
clined 1t months ago. when he told the
Armenian committee In London that
Uncle SAM, and not JOHN BULL, was
the fellow for the work. expressed
with customary grace and dellcacy
his profound regret that the perform
,nce of the United States with regard
10 Armenia had not conceded with
the promises of President WLsoN. A
mandate for Armenia, he said, had
been offered TO every one, but no one
lad cared to accept It. America was
the ideal mandatory Of she would
nav oil the bills for 30 lighting with
TurkSyt, but America had not seen
her way 10 accept, and-note the fol.
lowing >words--'no one else was Will
ing TO do SO, unless other members
of the League agreed to Insure her
against loss and provide share of
the money and men required"
And then NJ. vrv1AN1 for France:
.America has refused. what can
tnfs commission do7 Does Mr.. BAL
youn suggest any reason why the
proposed commission would succeed
when the League Council, of which he
Is 20 eminent n member, has falledT
Then ain a ringing voice.:
60 IL there any nation that will ac-
ssyftthe Armenian mandate to-day7