The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-10-30
,ritish regulation

70 DIlLlbll
Lord Roberts Scorncd.
lord Roberts was one OF the rev
Ttsrsiphted men in Britain who per-
.,eived that the policy which Britain
-yas nursulng led straight TO war
he urged not disarmament but ma
,lonal service. Yet the very cablhel
leaders who were supporting tne
noiIcv which meant war, joined In
condemnation OF Roberts for adVo-
eating preparation for that war
which they were making certain oF
the policy which they were follow.
ing In the end the war came hut
he nreparation was lacking, and AS
A consequence. we had the trlght-
f,l shambles continuing from the
fIrst battle OF Ypres to the great
Somme offensive of 1915 and absorb
inc the best and bravest OF BRUSH
youth collected under the volunteer
From the moment OF the Alge-
clras convention Of 1914 onward
there were two possible policies loI
British statesmanship, logically pos
aible. the one was to prepare To de-
fend that position which Britain hau
acquired by fighting over several
centuries. that supremacy az sea
was the very breath In the nostrllS
OF the nation, the other was TO rT
sign this position and accept me
conditions which would inevitably
flow from the passing OF sea con-
troll.
But the British ministry Of the
day, the Liberal government when
In the main directed British des-
tlnies would do neither the one
thing nor the other. They would
not. for obvious reasons consent 10
resign one small fraction OF British
supremacy at sea and they would
not recognize that II they did not do
this they must prepare for an IN
eyitable war. They deluded them
selves and their country into the
notion that war was unthinkaple,
that an arrangement could be ar
rived at with Germany by when
Germany would accept the BRUSH
view of relative world positions
and-in the end. arrived at war un-
prepared physically while their ma
ton was Itself morally as well as
materially unready.
Now Il Is essential for Amer
leans 10 recognize once for all
that In combining the question OF
disarmament with That OF the Pa
cific, the Harding administration
has arrived ut something of the
, same confusion of thought which
fifteen years ago plagued British
p statcsmanship. It a. obvious that
we, like every other country, can
only afford 10 limit armament,
provided the policy Of policies
which we pursue with respect to
other nations involves no col
lision and therefore leads 90 no
conflict Despite all the nonsense
written and spoken To the con-
trary, the cause OF the world war
was not excessive armament, but
the pursuit of policies which in
volyed excessive and competitive
armament.
Before the world war. since the
struggle, It has been excessively
difficult TO persuade Englishmen
that their country pursued toward
Germany a policy whisN inevitably
led to war. II has been difficult be-
cause the Englishman, from start to
finish, was convinced sea supremacy
was a necessity with him and sea
power only a luxury with the Ger
man and he was further convinced |
that he sought no advantage which |
involved depriYing the German OF
any possession. What he could not
see-and cannot--is that his su-
preme injury to the German was
his calm assumption that the Ger
man must accept that place in the |
world which the Britisher has as
signed TO him,
How Germany Acted.
All the injuries, wrongs, out
RACES which provoked the war were
German. The Germans made the !
war in order 10 escape from the
place in the world which had been
assigned to him by British concep-
lions He was out to steal, TO rob, |
10 throw down other nations and |
eNalt his own country But as far |
aA the Englishman was concerned |
Il was always impossible that he
should keep the German in the !
British assigned place and escape |
conflict. The British had to face |
the face that he was, to the German |
mlnd, seeking TO restrict the Ger |
man future, to regulate the des- |
unles OF a great and proud empire |
although in doing this thing he was
only providing for his own security |
i've.
Now ! dwell upon these circum-
stances because beyond all qurs-
,lOn we are more and more tend
ing 10 adopt toward Japan the
.onc and the manner OF Britain
toward Germany. We don't
want war, we have not the
smallest intention or desire 20
ake Japanese territory or 20 tn
eriere with Japanese liberty. We !