The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-07

Washington, d. c., Dec 6.-That
the disarmament conference has
become a contest, in which each of
the nations represented is striving
to gain some relative advantage in
naval and military strength over
the others, is noE apparent to all
who have closely followed the pro-
ceedings.
Furthermore, it is no surprise to
those who understood the nature
of the gatherings No nation is
going to disarm as long as the
causes of international war re-
main unchanged, for the simple
reason that they are bound to
cause war again. A certain saving
in taxes is the most that can be
expected from the disarmament
phase of the conference. Its con-
sideration of the far eastern ques-
ton, on the other hand, may be re-
garded as the nearest thing to
sincere attempt which modern d.
pIomaey has ever made to remove
causes of war Whether che at
tempt will have any success at all
remains doubtful:
France is coming in for great
deal of criticism because of her re-
fusal to reduce her standing army,
which she asserts she needs to pro-
tect her against Germany and Rus
STA. It has been pointed out re-
peatedly that both of those nations
are incapacitated for an indefinite
length of time. France is accused
of employing sophistries to estab-
lish her right to a large army.
So, it appears, she is, and so are
all the other nations. Her stand
ing army is all France has. She
possesses no strength on the sea,
where she is outclassed by three
other powers-EngIand. the United
States and Japan Each of those
nations is trying to get out of the
disarmament conference some ad-
vantage in naval armament. Japan
stands out resolutely for a ratio
that will leave her relatively
stronger than she was before the
conference She brings forward
the sophistry that. her peculiar po-
sition makes necessary this extra
strength.
The Submarine Question.
England stands out for reducing
the submarine to the lowest posi-
BILE status. Hemmed in on her lit
tie island, Great Britain is more
menaced by the submarine than by
anything alse. Ii nearly starved
her during the war 1t is capable
Of making the transportation or
food and material from her colonies
almost impossible. On the other
hand, it is not important to the de-
tense of her short insuIar coast
line. Hence, large submarine flo
tfllas and the development of the
submarine are the greatest men
aces to great Britain. She is IN
favor of almost abonshing subma-
'rines. She also comes forward
with her little sophistries. What
horrible thing submarine warfare
is.
The United States is not so i'm
pressed with this horror. SVbma-
rines are extremely useful on the
defense of a long coast line like
ours. We are in favor of rather a
large supply of submarines. Fur
thermore, the genuineness of our
desire to disarm was put to the
test, it seems, when poison gas was
mentioned 1t was suggested that
poison gas be eliminated altogether
from international warfare, as the
most horrible weapon of all, and
the American delegates demurred.
It is said that our war department
has the formula for the most de-
structive gas on earth, and that in
the next war it will be our strong
est asset. Are we going to throw
it away? We should say not.
All of this is no criticism of any
one. 1t is merely a statement OF
the inevitable No nation is going
to disarm as long as the world is
full of things and situations that
are capable of causing information
al wars. Disarmament will be pos
sible when cause for international
war has been abolished everywhere
as completely, for example, as
cause for war between the United
States and Canada has been abol-
ished. And these causes for inter
national war will be abolished
when the common man refuses to
fight, and pay taxes.
A good many common men in the
world are in revolt against blood
SIZED and taxes now. That is the