The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1921-05-27
SOLONS FROM
INDIANA SAY
NAVY NEEDED
Oppose Move To Hamstring
Naval Forces - Confident
Harding Seeks Agreement
on Reduction of Arms.
SEE MOVE OF PACIFISTS
PALLADIUM NEWS BUREAU


WASHINGTON, May 27.-Confident
that it Is the earnest purpose of Presi
dent Harding to put forth every ef
fort to bring about an agreement
among the principal military nations
Of the world to reduce their arma
ments to a minimum, the members
OF the Indiana congressional delega
tion in both houses have opposed
what they term the efforts Of the
pacifist group to cripple the naval es.
tablishment
When the annual naval appropria
ton bill was recently considered in
the house determined efforts were put
forth to muilate the measure. Sim
liar attacks have been made on the
bill in the senate. In the upper house
the little navy" forces were success
full in eliminating certain provisions
of the naval appropriation bill which
had been urged by the secretary OF
navy as necessary to a prudent main
tenance of the ma uonal defense. They
were foiled. however, in a deliberate
attempt to hamstring the navy.
See Paeifist Move.
Recently Indiana members of con.
gress have been receiving quite a
few communicat tions from constitu.
ents urging that they support any
legislation providing for immediate
disarmament on the part of the Unit.
ed States.
Nearly all the letters I have re.
ceived urging immediate disarmament
were written by people who were pro,
nounced pacifists prior to our entry
into the late war and throughout the
period of the war;" remarked an In
diana congressman. 1T has not es
capped my attention that / have re.
ceived 20 such communication from
former service men, the ones who
really know what war is.
Il may be mistaken, but I have the
impression that the big majority of
those men who served with the col.
ors during the war with Germany
share with me the opinion that the
adequate provision this country had
/ lade for its defense prior to 1917 was
i no small measure responsible for
our entry into the war. It will be
recalled that it was the German pol
icy of recklessness. contemptuous dis.
regard of American rights. that even.
war against Germany.
Germany's Action
1T Is hard for me to believe that
had we made adequate provision for
national defense during the three
years prior to our entry into the con
flict, when over half the world was
~,
take any action which might provoke
US into lining up on the side of the
allies. But she saw that we had nc
army and only a small navy.
After weighing the possible conse
quences of a war with the United
States, Germany decided that ii
would serve her interests better to be
at war with US rather than remain al
peace At war Germany could de
stroy without explanation all mum
uons ships sailing from American
ports.
Her military leaders and states
men also figured that it would require
the United States at least a year tc
organize an army and place it in the
field, and they were confident tina;
before that time Germany could com
pletely crush England, France and
Italy.
Correct In Estimate.
They were correct in their esti
mate as to the length Of time it would
require this country to organize fol
military operations on a large scale
but. as the world now knows, they
miscalculated the length Of time the
allies could resist the pressure of the
German military machine. awaiting
the arrival of re-inforcements from
America. That miscalculation result
ed in the defeat of Germany"
Germany is crushed now and our
victorious army has been demobilized
But war RACES throughout eastern
Europe and in Turkish Asia. Who
knows but what flying sparks from,
those conflicts may not start another
conflagration which will again sweep
all of Europe? Not probable, but still
possible. AS we look to the west we
see Japan steadily pursuing a policy
Of military and naval expansion and
carrying out an ambitious program OF
territorial expansion.
Interests Conflict
For several years American and Jap
anese interests have conflicted, acutely
on occasions. Only recently Japan
politely but emphatically informed the
league of nations that she was not al
this time prepared to discuss the ques
tion of international disarmament
II am in most hearty accord with
any movement which will result in an
agreement among the principal mill
tary powers to reduce their armaments
to a minimum. That is true of every
member of congress, but I think il
would be the height Of folly for the
United States to take such action In
the absence Of such an agreement.
Those who have urged that action
in congress have done so under the
cloak Of economy. an insidious argu
ment at a time when this country is
groaning under its burden Of wal
taxes. But when the naval appro
priation bill was debated in the house
recently l noticed that many of those
who urged immediate disarmament
were those who were frequently identi
fled with pacifist activities during that
time when we were at grips with the
most powerful military nation in the