The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-12-10

their insular possessions and do
minions in the region of the Pa
cific, and that if any controversy
should arise as to such rights all
the high contracting parties shall
be invited to a joint conference
looking to the adjustment of such
controversy.
They agree to take similar &C
ton in the case of aggression Sby
any other power upon these insu-
lar possessions or nominations
The agreement is to remain in
force for 10 years and after ratifi-
cation under the constitutional
methods Of high contracting par
ties, the existing agreement be-
tween Great Britain and Japan
which was concluded at London
on July Is, 1911, shall terminate
And that is all. Each signer is
bound to respect the rights of the
others and before taking action in
any controversy to consult with
them There is no provisions for
the use of force to carry out any
of the terms of the agreement, and
no military or naval sanction Turks
anywhere in the background or
under cover OF these plain and di-
rect clauses.
"RemOye Cause of War"
1.-THE surest way to prevent war
is to remove the cause of war.
There is an attempt TO remove
causes of war over great area of
the globes surface by reliance
upon the good faith and honest in
tentions of the nations which sign
the treaty, solving all differences
through the process Of diplomacy
and joint consideration and concil-
iation. No doubt we shall hear it
said that the region to which this
agreement applies is one most I'M
likely to give birth to serious dis
putes and therefore an agreement
of this character is of little conse-
quence. History unhappily has
shown that there is no corner OF
the earth so remote, or so value
less that it is not capable of giving
cause for controversy, or even for
war between the tribes and the
nation sof mankind.
Pacific Isles Valuable.
But the islands of the Pacific,
although remote from the dwelling
places of the mass of humanity, are
far from valueless. The islands OF
the southwestern Pacific. extend
over a vast space in that great
ocean. They reach from the Mar
quesas on the east to the Philip
pines on the west; from the Aleu-
tian islands on the north nearly to
the Antarctic circle on the south
They are far more numerous than
is generally realized. l do not
know what the total number is, but
I am informed as to the Philippines
and it appears that this group
alone contains over 3,10O islands
of which 1900 have names. We
have probably heard of the remark
of Robert Louis Stevenson when on
leaving one Of the Pacific islands
he was asked how he was going
to Samoa He replied that he
should just go out and turn to the
left These islands are, compare
lively speaking, so dense that we
might describe them in the words
of Browning as the 'Sprinkled isles
lily on lily, that occupy and enlace
the sea-
Senator Grows Eloquent.
"And yet the region through
which they are scattered is So vast
that the isles of Greece and the
Aegean, so famous in history and
poetry, could be easily lost there
in and continue unnoticed, except
by wandering seamen or stray ad-
venturers. They range from Aus
tralia, continental in magnitude tc
atoIls where are no jewellers bul
the builders OF the coral reefs OF
lonely rocks marking the peak OF
mountains which rise up from the
oceans floor through miles OF
water before they touch the air. Tt
the western and the eastern world
alike. most of the islands on the
southwestern Pacific are little
known; there still fingers about
them the charm SO compelling and
so fascinating, which an undiscov-
cred country has for the sons OF
men who are weary of main travel
ed roads and the trampled high
ways of trade and commerce which