Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-09-02
FOUNDATIONS OF PEACE
DO NOT REST ON DlCTATloN
Senator Lenroot and Those Who Think
With Him Mlsapprehend the ESSEN
tlals Of the Problem

tials Of the Problem
TT THE Disarmament Conference is to
L accomplish anything It must be ap-
preached in a very different mood from
that manifested by Senator Lenroot in his
address at the Michigan State Fair.
He said that Great Britain especially
must be given to understand that results
must follow the conference" and II she Is
indisposed to make such agreements as seem
good to us he would insist on the imme-
date payment of the So, ,00O, 900, 900 which
she owes us. That is, he would put pistol
to her head with a threat to pull the trigger
unless she did as she was told.
The Senator, ought to know, in the first
place, that this is the surest way to prevent
any permanent workable agreement If
there is to be any permanent reduction in
armaments 1t must come about by volun
tary understanding among those nations
which have advanced to an appreciation Of
the fact that there is q better way to settle
international disputes, and that Is through
the substitution for force Of the application
even in part of the principles of justice.
1t might as we'll be admitted In the be-
ginning that the primary motive behind the
Disarmament Conference is not a desire for
International justice. Nations with selfish
interests are just as firmly committed to
within their power to get their will by the
dse of force they would still insist on the
maintenance Of powerful armies and naves.
But competitive armament has gone so far
that no nation today can afford to main
tain a warlke establishment strong enough
to overcome all possible opposition. II the
nations are to be saved from bankruptcy
there must be a truce until the financial
burdens piled up by the great war have been
adjusted to the shoulders OF the people.
Cnless something like this Is done no Gov
ernment can stand in Europe. 1t will be
turned out and new leaders substituted for
those now In power. The European states
men know this, and 1t is why they are
willing to come to Washington to see il an
agreement can be reached which will justify
them in reducing their military organiza
tions.
Herein lies the justification for the hope
that the conference will accomplish some
thing. The interests Of the political leaders
are at stake. If Great Britain were in a
position to maintain a navy big enough to
defeat the biggest combination of navies
that might be arrayed against her, Lloyd
George would have no use for the Wash
ington Conference. He would be the loudest
insister on the maintenance Of splendid
isolation which left his country free to be
JuuRe anu III every ulSpulV III which
she was involved And If France could
maintain an army big enough to overrun
Germany, BRAND would be the last to con-
sent to any understanding by which her
military forces were to be reduced. Japan
is coming, not because she wishes to, but
because she cannot afford to stay away.
What has happened is that one set Of
national interests has risen to take the
place for the moment of another set. The
financial resources of the nations have been
strained by war and by preparations for
war to such a point that it is of more i'm
mediate Importance to consider how TO
economize at home than to prepare for
aggression against other nations or for de-
fense against aggression from those nations.
There is no altruism behind the move
ment It arises out of hard, practical neces-
sites But the situation is nevertheless
encouraging, for ii marks the first faint
glimmering of a realization that war does
not paV that in the long run the price paid
for what war yields Is more than II is worth
NOT the price in lives and suffering, but
the price in dollars and cents.
We all profess love for peace and justice,
as Norman Angel has reminded us. We
have discovered through bitter experience
what war costs, and we shall be paying the
price for the next two or three generations.
sideration given to the price we are willing
to pay for peace with the justice which war
cannot bring. Peace cannot be had for
nothing. It may be necessary to surrender
certain degree of national sovereignty to
get 1t.
The United States has interests the JUS
tice Of which it is unwilling to submit to
an impartial court. 1t has refused TO as
sumo any obligation to participate in pro-
serving the peace In the rest of the world.
1t prefers the same kind Of isolation Of
which the British used to boast, an isolation
buttresscd by power sufficiently strong
to enable it to maintain its claims against
the rest Of the world. Yet the nations are
bound so closely together that we cannot be
Indifferent to what happens In London and
Paris and Berlin and Moscow and Toxic.
Decisions reached on the Continent Of Eu-
rope drew us into the World War and piled
ur for us debt Of $25 900 600, 900. The
big budgets which must be met in Wash
ington were voted originally in the Euro
pean capitals while we thought we were
separated from that part Of the world by
three thousand miles Of salt water.
Peace is no longer a parochial issue. II
can be maintained only by the completest
international understandings entered into
with determination to fulfill all the obi-
cations involved. We cannot dictate dis
armament to the world as Senator Lenroot
would have US do. Indeed, we cannot die
tate ANYTHING save war. Not only the
United States. but the other Powers must
abandon a dictatoriaI mood II the founda
tions Of peace are to be laid.