Perth Amboy evening news., 1921-12-06

WASHINGTON. Fec. 3-That IA,
disarmament comic. ence has be.
cume a contest in Wh. Ia each of the
nations represented is striving Il
gain some relative adv antage in a
val and military strength over tho
others is ROW apparCGt TO all Sh1
have closely follow ed the proceed
Ings.
Furthermore. 1t is 10 sdrp:.sa 10
those wIlG undeISto, {. the nature OF
the gatherings. No nation is going
to disarm as long as the causes of
international war remain unchang-
ed for the simple reason hat they
are bound to u war again. a
certain saving in taxes is the most
that can be expected from the dis
armament phase of the conference.
Its consideration of the Far East
question On the other hand, may be
regarded as the nearest thing TO a
sincere attempt which modern di-
plonIacy has eve made to remove
causes of war. Whether the at
tempt viii have any success at all
remains doubtful.
France is coming in for a great
deal of criticism because of her re-
fusal to her standing army, which
n asserts she needs to protect ner
against Germany and Russia. 1t
has been pointed out repeatedly
that both OF these nations are in
.tited Tor an indefinite length
of time. France is accused OF en-
-. %4As sOphlstrles to establish her
right TO a large army.
So it appears. she is, and so are
all the other nations. Her stand
ing army is all France has. She
possesses no strength on the sea
where she is outclassed by three
other puwers-England, the United
States and Japan. Zach of those
nations is trying to get out of the
disarmament conference some ad-
vantage iii naval armament. Jap
an stands cut resolutely for a ratio
which will leave Nher relatively
stronger than she was before the
conference. She brings forward the
sophistry that her peculiar position
makes necessary this extra strength
The Submarine Question
England stands out for reducing
the submarine to the lowest posi-
BILE status. Hemmed in on her little
ISLAND, Great Britain is more me-
naced by the submarine than by
anything else. 1t nearly starved
her during the war. 1t is capable
of making the transportation of
food and material from her colo
MES almost impossible. On the
other falH, II is not Important TO
the defense of her short insular
coast lire. Hence large submarine
hoi''ias and the development Of the
submarine IRE the greatest menaces
m H. a. ~ GDA. - q. faXr.- - ~
most abolishing submarines. She
also comes forward with her little
sephistries. What a horrible thing
submarine warfare is
The United States is not so inn
pressed With this horror. Subma-
rines are extremely useful on the
defense of a long coast line like
ours. We are in favor of a rather
large supply OF marines. Further
more, the genuineness of our desire
TO disarm was put to the test, it
seems, when poison gas vas mem
toned. II was suggested that poi
son gas he eliminated altogether
from International warfare, as the
most horrible weapon of all, and
the American delegation demurred.
II is said that our War Department
has the formula for the most de-
structive gas on earth, and that in
the next war it Will be our strong
est asset. Are we going TO throw
it away? We should say not.
All of this is no criticism of any
one. 1t is merely a statement of
the inevitable. No nation is going
TO Cdisarm as long as the world is
full of things and situations that
are capable OF causing international
wars. Disarmament will be posi-
BILE when cause for international
war has been abolished everywhere
as completely. for example as cause
for war between the United States
and Canada has been abolished.
And these cause for International
war will be abolished when the
common man refuses to fight and
pay taxes.
A good many common men in the
world are in revolt against blood
shed and taxes now. That is the
real reason why the conference as
sembled. That IL the reason for all
OF its bumcombe about peace and
fraternity, and for what sincere ef-
forts it is m1~Jng 10 establish in the
Far East some sort of an arrange
ment that will be less Immediately
and obviously productive of con-
hict than the present one.
But in the main the cause of
touched by the conference. The
causes Of international wars are the