The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-12-25

do \ believe that Mr.. Hugnes III
He followed II by a week OF sur
prises, all of them limited at IN the
first scene Of the big piece ana
necessary II the play was TO have
run. In spite of the fact tnat
you knew each OF the suggestive
scene. was inevitable, when 1t came
TO be- staged IL gave you a fresh
sense Of the bigness of the things
doing here, aroused anew your ad-
unirationr for the sound and beau
tifui logic with which they are
knit together.
announcement Came Late
The surprise of the opening day of
the conference. November IL, lay in
the unexpectedness OF what Mr..
Hughes had to say. The first sur
prise of December 10 lay in the fact
there was to be a full session. 1t
was not until nearly midnight OF the
ninth that IL was announced A
few diners lingering late heard OF
II. The press, of course, was IN
formed But to most of us the
news came when we opened our
morning paper over our conee-s
full headline across the top of the
page
sPlesary Session Today
or course we realized that II was
going to be big day. For weeks
there had been hidden in the mists
about the conference something
which those who were able to pene-
trate near to the center of things
declared TO be a treaty. Watch
ing this treaty emerge was like
watching a ship come out Of thick
fog. There were warning signals,
81 k,Nr ~
and more ,distinct-the Anglo-Pap-
anese pact was dying, IL the Unit
ed states wished II IL should go,
andadt. was certain that the United
States "a for a long time wished
it.-efso Australia and other parts
OF the English Empire. Then we
began to hear more and more from
another -direction-signals that had
been sounded at intervals for weeks
before the conference convened
Japan was uneasy about the ma
val bases in the Pacific She would
like to have them dismantled. As
one listened one began to under
stand that Mr.. Hughes program of
naval Limitation would stay where
II was until something had been
done about both the Anglo-Japan-
csc Pact and the Islands of the
Pacific.
The logic Of the situation began
TO be clear. The fair-minded began
to ask themselves, We'll now az
ter all how can we expect Japan
to strip herself OF ships. II she
must as seems to be Inevitable,
gave up her understa nding with Eng
land7 How can we expect her 20
weaken her defenses and take no
exception to the Notifications in
the waters near her.
She is the member of this confer
ence that is being asked to sacrifice
until it hurts, and the only one
Is IL fair to ask her to sacrifice
without guarantees? Is there any
way out but a treaty-a treaty in
which We john
Pact Necessity Clear.
Moreover. il you ask her to sacri-
hce without a guarantee will she
do it? Not Japan.
Thus IL became more and more
clear that the success of the naval
program depended on some kind of
pact which would satisfy Japan
that she could agree to what Mr.
Hughes had asked and still have
no reason to feel herself in danger
The srst definite black-faced,
full width = of the page headline
came, as 1 remember, on December
5. Four-Power Entente to Replace
Anglo-Japanese Alliance" The
morning after this bold announce
ment IL was not quite so sure. The
newspapers were keeping a line of
retreat open. AS they now put 1t:
Discussions of the proposal have
reached well-advanced stage,
none Of the governments concerned
had given hnal approval" There
was enough that was sure, however
to give the wicked chance to
jeer at approaching "entanglIng
alliancesr'
By Friday, December 9, the most
careful journals were saying, on
what they declared to be the best
sort Of authority, that the United
states was going into a pact with
Japan and England and France,
guaranteeing various things. There
was considerable diversity in the
assertions about what was guaran-
teed. Authoritatively, as all Of
these announcements pretended to
be. Washington said nothing. The
news came from all of the capitals
of the powers concerned except our
own 1t was evidently very hard
for Washington to say treaty"
There was much entertaining
gossip running around as to how
Tokyo and London and Paris had
been able to give the press the
news of what was going to be done,
while Washington was silent. One
story was that clever Japanese
journalist had managed to get
glimpse of the document in prepa-
ration and had cabled what he had
been able. 10 make out of its con-
tents to Tokyo; that from there it
had. gone to Paris and London and
finally came here. That was one
story ~ Another was a rather thin
versssa Of. that old, old device OF
writers OF diplomatic nction-a
Lively and lovely lady lunches
with.san- elderly diplomat, who, to
win her favor. reveals the secret
thstssis In the air. That evening
she 6fnes with q young journalist
whorf she naturally (and neces-
sartly, {oe the purpose Of the plot,)
much -prsfers. and to prove her de-
yotion-she TELLS him what her elder
isuitor~has revealed. Threadbare as
1.-THE formuh Is. IL was honored the
.1week tnat the treaty was coming
.3out of the~fog by at least one inn
9portant newspaper.
HHshes Decides.
Mr.. Hughes seems to have con-
-ciuied by the end OF Friday, the
minth. that unless he acted quickly his
population for dramatic diplomacy
3might be shaken. and so the hasty
lIP9Usfos - thrill at the breakfast
lpsrk readjustments of
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