Evening star., 1921-12-25

small, which have not participated in
our counsels. by removing from them
their weapon of defense. the sub
| marine.
'In fact. if Mr.. Balfour could harbor
the slightest idea that / wished to
impugn the motives of Great Britain.
| the words spoken by me at the be-
ginning of my speech would bear
witness to the affectionate feelings
| which have continually inspired my
thoughts. l then stated clearly that
the might and the safety of Great
Britain constituted one Of the essen
tial safeguards of the peace of the
world and of the progress of civiliza-
| tion. Who, moreover would dream
today of speaking of the possible
hegemony of any country in the
world?
This dream of an earlier day. which
was that of whole people. has forever
! vanished in the last war. And it was
your country itself, Mr.. Balfour, that
has largely contributed to the over
throw of this hegemony by contribu-
ton toward the victory Of right which
will remain the honor and the supreme
glory Of your nation.
SusceptibilIties Into Account.
But nevertheless there remains
the fact that in the fulfillment of the
task that we are here engaged upon.
We have to take into account the sus-
capabilities of certain peoples I have
said that if You want to settle such a
question as that of the suppression or
i retention of the submarine align the
small powers on the side of the great
because the small ones have also the
right to. express their views and make
their voices heard.
Il cannot express myself otherwise.
even when speaking on behalf of a
country whose liberal and peace-loving
| IA ,iGfa
when dealing with the problem of her
safety on land and at sea. The creation
OF will to peace in the world can be
based only on confidence and spirit
Of justice This is the deep conviction
which must be impaired to all nations :;
they should be persuaded of this fact.
not by having it forced on them, but
by letting it penetrate gently into their
minds. This, and nothing else, is what
said.
Deep Sense OF Obligation.
'The chairman Sa id that he thought the
committee had proceeded to point
where he believed it must be concluded
that it was not possible to reach an
agreement on the matter just discussed.
1t had been the highest privilege to lis
ten to the strong and persuasive argu-
ments of Mr.. Balfour. Ii would be
tsuperfluous to say that the arguments
he addressed to the committee had been
perfect in construction and comprehen-
siveness and admirable in their entire
candor. All present must feel that they
were his debtors for the Intellectual
pleasure he had given them. The chair
deeper sense Of obligation. The con-
ference had been called for the limita-
ton of armament: and the economic
Importance of limitation had been en-
phasized. But in that way, limited
though it might be. the conference was
striving to lay basis for an enduring
peace. That was the real point of their
effort. What had impressed him most
in = Mr.. Balfour's statement was the
spirit with which it was imbued and the
manifest desireto present and enforce.
against apparently hopeless odds. a
proposition which was deemed impor-
tant for the maintenance of the peace of
the world and for such an adjustment
OF weapons OF war as might favor the
maintenance Of conditions of peace. He
said that he wished to express his pro-
found sympathy with what Mr.. Balfour
and Lord Lee had said; their argument
had derived force not only from
humanitarian sentiment. not only from
marine warfare. but also because it had
been buttressed by facts drawn from
the extended experience of Great
Britain an experience which presented
tests Of all the questions raised here.
If the argument Of Mr.. Balfour and
Lord Lee could be answered, the chair
man thought that that answer had yet
to come. He perceived from his more
or less impartial position the great diff
ficulties involved in presenting tech
nical answer. He distrusted his ability
to Judge of the technical naval argu-
ment. but he believed that those taking
upon themselves the burden of that ef-
fort would have much to do.
Technical Opinion Differs.
HE was quite aware that in the
United States there was widespread
sentiment against the submarine
been aroused by the abhorrent uses
to which the submarine had been
put. There was a very strong senti-
ment against the submarine anu
that. as an offensive weapon. ii
should be outlawed-a feeling that
; would be powerfully reinforced by
what had been said here. While the
chairman felt that there was no i'm
mediate prospect of the adoption of
the proposal the words of Mr.. Bal
four and Lord Lee would carry far
. beyond this conference and power
fully influence the development OF
public opinion throughout the world
He was not prepared to say that
their suggestions might not ultim-
ately be successful in inducing the
nations to forego the use of a weapon
which, as Mr.. Balfour had urged
: weapon. and then only in form
of aggression condemned by hu-
manity and international law
There existed very great diff
Guilty because of the difference of
technical opinion on this point Naval
experts did not agree. and it was
impossible to ignore their views So
far as the United States was con-
cerned. the matter had been ex-
} amined by the advisory committee
which, although it had not had the
advantage of hearing these argu-
mcnts had nevertheless produced
) al able, Illuminating and conserva-
tive report. AS France, Italy and
Japan had manifested an inability to
time to expect a result favorable to
the adoption here of a. resolution to
abolish the submarine.
I Arguments Impress President.
The chairman said that he had had
the pleasure of comforting with the
} President in regard to this matter
and had found him deeply impressed
with the strength Of the arguments
presented and the spirit animating
them. If at any time it were found
to be feasible to take the matter up,
the United States government would
give it their most serious attention.
The chairman hoped that what had
been said here would prove provoca-
tive of thought throughout the entire
world. When adherence could be ex-
pected to the principle of abolition,
the subject would be again considered
He hoped that it would be clearly un-
derstood that the submarine would
not be -countenanced as a weapon
Gf that be the fact) under the guise
of a weapon which was only available