The Washington herald., 1921-11-06

short of the total vindicatlon of the
twin principles Of the open door
and the integrity of China
The whole art of diplomacy lies
in the prevention Of q collision.
But no collision can be avoided IL
at the outset either party to a dis
agreement establishes. himself upon
an abstract prineibtss We can do
business with Japan on the basis
Of bargain. We can perhaps prevail
upon her to resign all claims upon
political influence and economic
special privilege within the great
WALL provided we agree to recos-
nize her special claims in Man
churia and Mongolia-but this Is
not the open door nor Is It the in
tegrity of China. And II Mr.. Wilson
earned enduring condemnation be-
cause he sacrificed principle, his
principle in Shantung, can Mt.
Harding and Mr.. Hughes hope for
more favorable verdict II they sac
rifice their principle in Manchuria7
Alliance Avenue Closed.
Again, Lloyd George has offered
Mr.. Harding and Mr.. Hughes an
easy way to dispose OF the Anglo
Japanese alliance by the mere sub
stitution of an Anglo-American-
Japanese alliance. But since Mr.
Wilson was condemned for his Eu-
ropean alliances, can Mr.. Harding
and Mr.. Hughes seek escape
through the avenue of an Asiatic
alliance? No. everyone knows that
no alliance of any sort could earn
tho indorsenent Of the United
States Senate or of the American
people at the present moment
The best informed Washington
observer Of Far Eastern affairs
said to me recently: The soundest
hope for success in the forthcom-
ing conference lies in a tacit avoid
ance Of every question of principle.
On questions Of principle there can
be no hope of agreement but in the
discussion of facts there will be dis
closed many details in which ac-
cord can be reached easily. For the
rest, where there is q disagreement
the subjects should be referred to
commissions which can sit long and
report late. In this way much,
enough can be accomplished"
Yet 1t 10 a fact that up to the
present moment the emphasis in
Washington Is being laid on princi-
pies. upon points. There is much,
very much which recalls Mr.. VIII
son and the days which preceded
Paris. There Is a suggestion that
the result of the conference will
be predicted upon the strength of
the case presented by the United
States. Now knowing the way Mr..
Hughes has prepared his case,
Washington would advise the
Japanese to settle rather than>Ato
go to trial, II the Supreme Court
or any other court were going to
hear the matter. Japan would thus
escape the humiliation Of an ad-
verse verdict already assured. But
the Japanese wifi not present their
case to the Supreme Court nor do
they need to accept any form Of
Jurisdiction. They may be per-
suaded, they cannot be peacefully
coerced. But nobody had yet sue
ceeded In persuading the Germans
Of the moral weakness of their case
In 1914, of the legal fraility Of their
argument. But the whole success
of our policy in the Far East de-
ponds upon persuading the Japanese
of the criminal folly Of most of
what they have done In the past
decade and extorting from. them q
Arm pledge TO 60 and sin no more.
Must Persuade OF Fight.
Il depends upon persuading them
to accept the principles Of the open
door and the integrity OF China
since We have predicated all our
action upon obtaining that CONVEX
sion. Failing that, Limitation Of
ornaments becomes irrelevant and
war in the Far East we'll nigh in
evitable. Or II depends upon per-
suading all the other great powers
that they and we have equal IN
terest in establishing these princi-
pie. which means alliance first and
war later. But this. again Is very
far from the Limitation of arma-
ment.
I presume that % per cent of the
people Of the United States desire
to see ornaments limited, military
and naval expenditures reduced
This is what the Washington con-
ference means to them. But what
percentage would be willing to in
dorse another war to establish the
principles of the open door and the
integrity Of China? Yet Just this
Is the real question before the
forthcoming conference and the
limitation OF ornaments Is in the
BACKGROUND until It Is disposed Of.
And there Is not one man In ten
who knows the Far East who will
not concede that any attempt to es-
tab1ish both principles absolutely
means war. Men differ as to what
Japan win concede Of what she has
sought, and IN part attained. In or
der 20 avoid war. but all agree that
her concessions WIFI In any event
be- rigidly limited and in no case
win amount to fulnlling the three
noints Of Mr.. HUGHES. Such is theI