New-York tribune., 1921-11-14


The second great utterance was that
of Secretary Hughes: 1--WE can no longer
content ourselves with Investigations,
with statistics, with reports, with the
clrcumlocution of inquiry. The essen
tial facts are already known. The time
has come, and this conference has been
called, not for general resolutions or
mutual advice, but for action. Power
and responsibility are here and the
world awaits practicable program
which shall at once be put into execu-
ton"
All the circumstances of the first
plenary session of the conference gave
emphasis to these declarations. Here
was assembled the whole government
of the United States to sustain the
Presidents statement of the national
purpose, and from the seats of the
Senate and the House of Representa-
tives rang out the acclaims of appro-
baton. In this there was no division
Of parties, no indication of reserve. 1t
was the voice of the whole nation that
was speaking. Of this no foreign dele
gate could entertain doubt.
No Other Gathering of Kind
And here also wsre the representa-;
tives of the great powers charged with
the prerogative of declaring the will
of the great maritime nations which
were invited to join in doing t'that
finer, nobler thing which no nation can
do alone" Here was the power and
here was the responsibility upon
whose action the world was waiting
Conferences of the nations there had
been before, but never a conference
that could bring to fruition the great
hopes of humanity, unfettered by the
exlgencies of penalizing a vanquished
foe; for here, for the first time since
the World War, the nations met, not
as friends and enemies, but as friends
only, seeking the solution Of problems
of equal interest to them all. And
of those problems was to be sought,
not through the exercise or augmenta-
tion of armed force, but through the
project of diminishing it's menace by
understanding and agreement.
Rapidly but clearly Secretary Hughes
reviewed the history Of that great as
piration, SO long frustrated by inhu-
ences which, there is ground for belief.
exist no longer. Chastened by the
scourge of war, the nations may now
accept the lesson so reluctantly
learned, that limitation of warlike
preparation is "vital necessity" eff
there is to be economic rehabilitation" )"
Secretary Hughes proclaimed, "if the
longlngs for reasonable progress are
not to be denied, if we are to be spared
the uprisings of peoples made desper-
ate in the desire to shake off burdens
no longer endurable, competition in ar
mament must stop"
No one will question this bold i'm
perative. But how. is this rivalry to
be made to stop? Only by heroic sac
rifices, and no one of the naval powers
should be expected to make them alone.
Plan Acclaimed by Whole People
When Secretary Hughes, in the name
OF the President of. the United States,
ceded by the scrapping of more than
sixty capital ships, of which the
United States was to contribute nearly
one-half, tidal wave of deep emotion
swept over the astonished assembly,
Senate and House and people, from
their crowded galleries, burst into loud
applause. 1t was moment when the
enthusiasm o. the great war seemed
to return in mighty refuent current,
but for that "finer, nobler thing which
no nation can do alone"
The scene recalled that sudden ont
burst Of sentiment that marked the
4th of August, 1889, when the menace
of revolution was convulsing France
and the Assembly of the Notables, in a
frenzy Of noble altruism, spontane-
ously renounced their feudal preroga-
tives, which they believed to be the
great barrier to peace. With sweeping
generosity noble We'd with noble in the
grand remuneration. All the old cher
ished rights and privileges went over
board together in a delirium of altru-
ism, and an ecstacy o self-satisfaction
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