The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1921-10-07
THE SO-CALLED
DISARMAMENT
CONFERENCE

] All > lNNoOIuLlDll tdillllE lOl COiiANA-
ence on Disarmament, is Of great
| significance. No well-informed per-
son believes that the Conference will
discuss disarmament to any great
length. The President, for some
reason, instead of calling a Confer
ence on Disarmament, called a con-
ference to consider the moot prob
lens Of the Pacific Ocean which af-
feet Great Britain, France, Italy,
Japan and the United States, as
well as Germany. The newspaper
publicity from official sources being
given out at Washington shows very
clearly the wide departure proposed
for the Conference from the original
purpose of those who called it. 1t
is now being referred to as a con-
ference on the "limitation of arma-
ments." 1t is essential to consider
the worlds condition in order to
determine what the probable pur-
pose and results of this conference
will be. When we entered the War,
America was a debtor nation. To-
day it is probably the worlds great
est creditor nation. The nations
with which we were associated dur
ing the war owe US officially about
$4,000, 100000 capital advanced and
l,000,0 100000 of accrued interest.
Nationals of these nations owe mer-
chants, exporters and manufacturers
of this country about three and a
half to four billion dollars, practi
cally unsecured, for merchandise
sent from this country since the
Armistice.
Americans hold at present nearly
| 25%c of the worlds supply Of gold,
and the percentage is rapidly in
| creasing. Within the last II months
the prices which farmers receive
| for their products were debated so
that the farmers lost between five
and six billion dollars on last years
products. Wage reductions have
been put tino force throughout the
country. We have enormous unem-
ployment, at least five and a half
million being out of work and many
of these have been unemployed for
six to eight months.
The war increased the already
unsafe and un-American concentra-
ton Of wealth in this country. The
method which was used to finance
the war gave the great investment
bankers a dangerous control over
the Government. Instead of paying
for the war by taxation, as could
readily have been done, we borrowed
the major part Of the cost thereof
The Government, moreover, instead
Of directly floating these bonds,
turned this over to the Investment
Bankers, and thereby put these In
yestment Bankers into a most dan
gerous strategic position to dictate
domestic policies. At the Peace
Conference at Paris, President Will
son succeeded in preventing the
possessors Of concentrated wealth in
this country from grasping conces-
sions in any large measure, in back
ward countries of the world, such
as construction of railroads and ex-
ploitation Of mines, and we did not
than accept any mandate to exploit
backward countries.
Since the war, Great Britain,
France, Italy and japan, but parti-
cularly Great Britain and Japan,
have been exploiting China and other
countries and securing concessions
of vast Importance and on terms
extremely unfair to the countries
exploited. This grabbing Of conces-
sions almost compels the nations Sc
curing them to maintain large armies
and navies, particularly large navies
Our own great financiers are keenly
anxious to secure concessions SINH
lar to those which Great Britain
and Japan, France and Italy have
secured. Our financiers never con-
slider the right or wrong of such
concessions.
1t is clear that the Conference
on limitation of ornaments to be-
gun in Washington on November
II, meets in most critical and
dangerous time, and that the world
situation is fraught with hazard to
civilization. AS Mr.. Frank H. Sim
onds states in an article in the Am
erican "Review Of Reviews: 1.-THE
Anglo-French Entente now hangs by
a thread" and also:-"The fact is
that the machinery which represents
international order and authority has
At last reached complete stop. and
is on the point Of collapsing alto
gether. Conference 70 the League III
Nations does no more than supply
one last breathing spell" The
Peace Conference AZ Paris and the
League Of Nations have failed. Most
Of the nations with which we were
associated during the war, particu-
larly Great Britain, France, Italy
and Japan, have repudiated in their
actions since the war, the purposes
for which America entered the war.
Their representatives in Washington
seek to justify their extortions and
concessions, and ask that these coun-
tries be RENTED the $4,000 100000
of Capital which we advanced to
them, and the 1,000,0O0,00O of ac-
crued interest, and are ready to
dicker with our financiers at the
Washington Conference for such re-
mission of this capital and accrued
interest in return for permitting
our investment bankers and the few
thousand people who own one-quart-
er of our national wealth to par
ticipate in the concession grabbing
throughout the world.
Disarmament and even reduction
of ornaments have no chance of
candid and honest consideration I'M
der these circumstances, unless the
enlightened and aroused public opin-
ion of America and of the nations
which the President has invited to
participate in this Conference, de-
mands unequivocally that there be an
agreement for immediate and very
rapid reduction in both Military
establishments and Naval ornaments,
before any other subject is consid-
cred at this Conference. Any other
course would be suicidal to the
restoration of normal conditions