Evening star., 1921-07-11
ENGLAND ANXIOUS
! FOR is. TO LEAD
NorId Problems Involved in
Disarmament Made First
Step Most Difficult.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Dts wonders to perform, and the va
fious steps that have led up to the
calling at last of disarmament con-
ference of the nations, known as the
Principal allied and associated pow
Ars, are q peculiar mixture OF SEN
odtiveness on the one hand ana hesi-
fancy on the other to assume re-
Sponsibility for the success or aana.- ar
6edly one Of the most dlfhcult inter
eational problems of modern times.
SGreat Britain has from the start
Fanted disarmament conference as
& means of reducing her tax expense:
nut on the one hand she was raced
With an element that looks aSkance
At the mere mention of reducing the
aiZe of the British navy, and on the
other hand the British government
found itself more or less bound to go
along with Japan because of the deli
cate matters involved in the Anglo
Japanese alliance. \ proposal by
England would have to be seconded
,Tsy Japan.
Ia EngInnd'a Position.
n Now the situation has been some
iNhat reversed. A great point IS MADE
isof the fact that the President of the
limited States issued the call for dis
armament conference. England is not
In the position of having forced the is
sue. though if the truth were told She
,waS eager in private TO have America
,n1dke tne move, anu Sllc iohAS ~
10 maneuver things around so as 10 go
INTO the conference without any es-
,Secial responsibility for compelling
agreement
~ 1t is one thing to call the conference
and quite another to sit in that confer
,knce as mediator with certain de-
lxree of mediating interest in what is
,&oing on. The United States becomes
more or less the arbiter in the discus
sion. and Great Britain would prefer
10 have it that way
rs Vital Problems Involved.
r That is not all. however. Tied up
with the disarmament problem is
isomething else besides naval expendi-
lures 1t touches the whole realm of
international peace-the league o. ma
,eions as an instrument for preserra-
,tion of peace in the absence of large
iSrmaments or some other interna-
itional body able to accomplish SINH
ikar result. Then. too. there are the big
Anancial questions-the payment OF
var debts-which sooner or later
touch the disarmament problem.
" America as a diSintereSted nation
md similarly as the creditor nation
of the world, with a big navy and
,tions except the peace of the
world. is counted upon as
conference than ever before. There
have been international conferences
son armament questions before. The
subjects were discussed at The
Hague as we'll as at the famous
london conference of 1909. but no
.eingle power had then as much
influence as the United States has
of the way the United states used
her power in the world war-un-
Selfishly and disinterestedly.
!. War Clouds in Pacific.
:. The success Of the disarmament con-
Ference called by President Harding
doesn't depend upon formulas but upon
something entirely different-the readi-
p program Of peace that will remove
sources of friction and possible war.
Everybody admits that the chances Of
var in Europe are remote for a genera
Hon to come-the financial and physical
resources of Europe are too near ex-
Eaustion for any one to rattle, the saber.
Sut there are war clouds In the Pacific.
/ Japan and the United States have
various British dominions like Aus
6alia and Canada and New Zealand.
The British empire and the United
States must clear the Pacific of possible
trouble before there can be any progress
fpward disarmament. Accordingly the
conference summoned by Mr. Harding
ie in reality concrete step toward war
prevention-an effort to preserve peace
py SOlHS dt the TOOtS Oh trouble Wnlie
there Is still time and not when the
passions of the peoples are infiamed by
kntoward incident.
,iSenator Borah's resolution has been
contributing factor toward the
bringing about of the big conference,
but at the same time the President
has gone much further. He has not
limited the meeting to Great Britain.
Japan and the United States. as the
Idaho senator wished. He has asked
al. .-.,
Because she is a member of the SUI
preme council and the latter because
much of the trouble in the Pacific
relates to the commercial rights of
Japan and other foreign governments,
Including Italy.
I'm a nutshell. the significant state
fpent issued here explaining the re-
htionship between the disarmament
conference and a discussion of the
Hroblems of the far east is an official
admission that Japan must be reckon
cd with.
: For many months 1t has been ap-
parent that Europe and the United
States were ready for a program of
limiting armaments. but the Japanese
were hesitant. Naturally they would
oe when there are so many unsettled
questions in the far east-all the way
from the dispute over cable communi-
cations at zap to the Siberian prob
fem and the difficulties over equality
Of commercial opportunity.
The big conference has been called,
however. That means much. But.
like the Irish peace conference, it is
too early to be overconfident of re-
suits. The biggest talk is still ahead
"a task left unfinished at Versailles
and still Observation-Disclosures
bringing the whole world into agree
ment on program of preserving
peace so as to make armament un-
necessary.
Copyright, 1871