The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1920-08-25
STRUGGLE FOR SEAS
CAUSE OF WAR, SAYS
DR.. REEFS IN LECTURE

land complete Decentralization o.
Waterways, were advocated by DIR. Ar
thur Rees, professor of political econ
tomy In the University Of Pennsylvania,
lat the Wednesday morning lecture be-
fCre the teachers institute at the Rich
ImOnd Chautauqua.
Freedom Of the Seas" was the topic
lof the lecture, which DR.. Recs said
would be means of combining the area
lof war and shortening war, and 1t is
IA thing which all liberal and advanced
politicians and writers are standing
N3r.
u I'VE stand in exactly the same place
to-day that Germany stood 25 years
ago" said DR. Rees THE great cry
Iin America today Is for a big navy,
land what will be the end Of this
llunacy? Another great world cata-
lclysm Problems which could not be
discussed during the war must be dis
tcussed now The cry for big navies is
ito protect our commerce and not to
protect our coasts.
Must Reconstruct Right.
DR.. Rees, by way of explanation,
said that he was born in England and
has lived In the United States and
when England went to war he offered
his services, but he said later on: Il
will not fight for any nation that will
not reconstruct on the finest of
principles.
Geography is at he bottom OF all
the trouble Philosophy and use of
the sea rests upon geography, and sea
power depends upon the configurat1on
and extent of the coast. AS an eX-
ample Is the great tragedy Of Russia,
in that she has no coast and no har-
bors and no waterway. that leads TO
the sea and because Of the great ad-
vantage in these things England has
come into supremacy.
The time will come" predicted DR..
Rees, when in peace or war no one
will be allowed to close waterways.
That will be the one solution. England
has opposed freedom Of the seas be-
cause of her supremacy. 1t is not that
the great leaders in her country do not
favor 1t. for they do, but it is because
the great British Admiralty is a rock
against IT."
Offers Three Suggestions.
AS solution of the problem. DR.
Rees offered three suggestions, name
": complete freedom of navigation ii
raFurope; the freedom of three ports,
DDarzig, Trieste and Constantinople,
and complete decentralization of
all canals and waterways, etc.
Comparing Europe and America In
the matter of freedom of navigation,
he said: 1--WE have set Europe fin
example. We have freedom of trade
and freedom of navigation. We also
have an ARRANGEMENT with Canada.
Whereby we may use her waterways"
BY way of explanation Of capture at
s0a, the lecturer said it is legalized
piracy. In all navies of the world eN-
cept that of the United States, every
member of the navy is enriched by a
Canture.
Reviewing the history Of Germany
end ENGLAND. the speaker showed that
fnr MANY years there had been compp
tition England always striving for a
bigger navy and interfering with the
increasing commerce of Germany. He
told that in an edition of the "Satur-
day Review" an English publication,
Sent. H. 1896, an editorial growing out
OF this competition, predicted that war
must come between Germany and Eng
land, and reports from that time re-
cord that newshOys actually called on
The streets. "Nar is coming with
Germany"
Says Editorial Started It.
This editorial. DR.. Rees continued
vas circulated in Germany. She was
naturally incenscd and indignant.
Great opposition, jealousy and rivalry
was stirred up at the time of the
Boer war and matters were lrritated
between Germany and England. Be
cause of the illegal detention of Ger
- man commerce ships England paid q
aargc sum of money which went TO
increase the German navy,
What was the excuse of England
No IN
der to protect her imports from Aus
tralia. Denmark, Canada, etc. The
navy must be large In order that Ger
MANY could not cope with her. And
the argument Of Germany: 1t was the
same. Both wanted to protect their
commerce. Would it not have been a
great factor in the solution of the
problem to have abolished capture at
sea?
The position in the United States
in this matter has. from 1855 until
1917. been the strongest and most per
sistent and consistent against cap
ture at sea than any other nation.
The British admiralty and the profess
siOnal militarist element stand agalnSt
It, You say what would we have
done without the navy; but, at the
same time, it was one of the funda-
mental, underlying causes of the
war
Says Public Will Tire
In conclusion DR.. Rees said that
soon public opinion will tire of the
politicians passing the buck and get
down to some sound reasoning which
will better conditions
"Over-emphasis of organization and
system is the trouble with the pres
ent public school SYSTEM" said Ellis
Graft, superintendent of the Indian
Aapolis public schools, Wednesday
morning.
THE world is looking more and
more toward educa ton as the solu-
ton Of the problems of the world. :"
The essentials of a good teacher
were outlined by the speaker.