The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-23

American republics
 lived long enough in America
 to realize that political formulas In
 your country are subordinated to
 practical realities more than else
 where. Yet, despite the long con troversies concerning 1t, the Mon-
 roe Doctrine Is still an active force. However, there Is not always agree
 ment as to It's Interpretation. When Roosevelt summarized 1t as speak softly, but carry big stick" he was not unanimously .applauded. Never theless, In Europe and the rest of the world, the essentials ot the doc | trine have never been questioned. Britain Has s.Doctrtne" Great Britain will also have at Washington a guiding doctrine of l more recent origin. but which she has been zealously developing dur 1 ing the last few months. It Is the
 empire doctrine. Formerly the em- 1 pire was aa implement of d Julina- ton. Today it is a federation. The Empire conference in London this summer gave definite form to im- perial relationships. At the Paris
 meeting of the allied supreme coun- ell in August, MT. Lloyd George caro- fully stated that he had mandate to speak in the name of the British
 
 right, but with the express consent and after thorough discussions with the dominions concerning common 1 interests
 | Great Britain has not formulated any organic creed comparable to the 1 Monroe Doctrine. but nevertheless 1t
 represents a grouping of peoples ! bound together by common inter l est in power. The old slogan. Brit
 tania rules the waves," has disap- peared. but everybody seems to ad- ] nit that every maritime problem Is l by definition a British problem. The European continent also has special common interests which, though
 doubtless reconci1abie with the in- 1 terests of the, maritime powers, new l ertheless, are special. as the war 1 proved. I regret to say that despite 1 ,is, the continent will present q | divided front at the conference. For | two years now. France has been | preparing to organize and consolidate these interests. But neither Miller
 and nor Briand has even attempted 1t. l Yet the peoples, which suffered at the | hands of Germany and Austria surely
 have common interests which would
 have been easy to discover. Their
 agreement on certain definite prin-
 ciples would immeasurably strength
 en peace.
 l Peace Is object
 | Moreover, neither Great Britain or | the United States could take the ! slightest umbrage at such an agree
 ment. for 1t would have peace as its 1 object and peace Is the object of the 1 Washington conference.
 It would have been splendid
 thing If Europe had realized such an organization before the conference. However, regrets won't help now. The best one can hope Is for the adoption of such q plan in the future. 1 Among the problems to be raised is ono which dominates all the rest What !s to become of that mass of unrest reaching from the Rhine to the Pacific, including an unrepentant l Germany, q boishevik dictatorship and Chinese anarchy7 The conference solutions will be fragile and preca- rious if some day 100.Oo0,0o0 between the Rhine and the Pacific threaten those democratic nations who so re- | gently saved their liberty from an aEgressor.
 The public Is ill-lnfcrmed about the programme of the Washington con ference. I like to hope that each na- l ton will bring . carefully thought cut pitus hot UHiJ Si'ihe oA'.b.
 hensive view of the interests at stake, but full technical data. Our Anglo
 Saxon friends, thanks to their geo> graphical situation. have a common | lack of deep concern over land boun- Idary questions which sense has been Tawakened in continental peoples by
 Ions and bitter experience.
 1 These arc interests which France
 ought to be prepared now to repre- sent on behalf of all Europe If she l is to take her proper place at the
 conference. Let's hope she will but
 lacking information we can do noth-
 ing but hope. Many Frenchmen do | not think that is enough.