The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-11-16
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


as a firm foundation in this conference.
The speech Of Mr.. Balfour is but the
index Of British policy which now aims
to make the conference a success by as
sisting the American proposition in every
way possible.
Not a syllable of equivocation, not
phrase of iukewarm comment but whole
hearted approval came from the head of
the British delegation. And as if to re-
enforce this sentiment with something
even more authoritative, Mr. BalfOur read
with dramatic effect a cablegra1n from
Prime Minister Lloyd George, whose alb
sence from the conference is the single re-
gretable incident thus far.
What Mr.. Lloyd George fails to render
by his presence, however, he more than
makes up for with his constant cable
grams to the delegates here to go as far
as they can TO help carry out the drastic
proposals made by the United States gov
eminent
MIR. BalfOur's Speech
True enough the British acceptance
has been forecast in the dispatches of
the last 24-hOurS but not until the fate
full words of approval were spoken by Ar
thur Balfour did the realization come Of
what tremendous import lay back of the
British endorsement. Mr.. Baifour spoke
extempOraneOuSly ana seemed TO mea sure
obvious that while Great Britain was ac-
cepting lin spirit as well as in principle,
Mr.. Balfour left no doubt in the minds OF
his hearers that the details would not
prove inSurmountablc and that they were
merely subjects for discussion in commit
tee by naval experts.
Nothing that might be done by the cx-
perts, Mr. Balfour insisted. would touch
the wonderful structure which had been
erected" by the American government.
1t was plain To see that Mr.. Balfour
vas using the occasion to drive home the
extent of the British sacrifice in consent
ing to a reduction of her navy to defeu-.
siye size. He dwelt at length on the inn
portanCe of a navy to an island people,
whose food supply is 50 dependent upon
overseas communications.
Keep Nayies Defensive
The gist of Mr. Balfour's address was
that nayieS hereafter should be purely
defensive and not offensive. On the lat
ter point he gave as an example the I'M
desirability Of large sea-going cruising
submarines whose only object could be,
he thought, the destruction of commerce
in offensive warfare by methods abhorred
by civilized nations. +
Precisely because Mr.. Balfour wanted
TO show how far Great Britain was ready
to go to stand by the United States, did
the British statesman emphasize the
strategic importance of a navy to the en-
pire After ne had done that, he an
uounced the British acceptance amid an
outburst of cheering and a demonstration
which was led by General Pershing and
in which the American delegation joined.
Hints on Land Armament
Mr.. Balfour threw ont a few hints Incl
dentally which viii prove significant later
on. He spoke briefly but with measured
emphasis about land armament At this
Premier BRAND leaned forward and
arched his eyebrows. Mr.. Balfour gave
the impression that he hoped other ma
tions weighed down by the burdens Of
land armament would also cooperate
with the movement for the reduction of
the worlds tax burden and thus release
capital and energies for the improvement
If trade, national and international.
1t was an unstinted acceptance of the
American viewpoint which Mr.. Balfour
expressed and he could not have been
more direct when he said The proper
tions in the American plan are acceptable
the limitation Is reasOnable-and we
believe il should be accepted-and we be-
lieve it finally viii be. 1t has not been
received with cool appreciation but with
hearty approval and with loyal and
hearty cooperation
Real Task Ahead
Now the conference gets down to bust
ness. The japanese accept in principle,
the British accept likewise, and both ma
tons are ready to approve the American
proposals, all of which, however, only
partly solves the problem. The real task
| is ahead. 1t involves IA satisfactory for
mula for Far Eastern questions and land
armament.
Committees have been appointed and
when there is argument on principles
again on these two matters there will be
| further open sessions The actual nego-
| tiations will proceed in committee-the
| results will be announced periodically in
| public session. This arrangement Is ap-
| parently satisfactory to most everybody.
No political partisanship has as yet ap-
| peared. America and Great Britain are
working together and the japanese thus
| far have given plain indications that they
will not lag behind in endeayoring to
| make the conference success.
Speaks For France Later ~
There was a touch of emotion seldom
| apparent in international conference
| as Japan followed Britain in approving
! the American naval program and as Pres
| jdent Schanzer of the Italian delegation
| and Premier BRAND threw their moral
| support in the direction of accepting the
| American suggestions. 1t was no sur
prise to find Premier BRAND, however,
| take up the reference in Mr.. Balfour 5
| speech to land armament Mr.. BRAND re-
| quested an opportunity at some future
| public session to explain the position of
France TO which the delegates graciouSly
| acceded. Although committee meetings
| are to be secret, public sessions win fur
| nish occasions for explanation of ma
| tioDal viewpoints. All the European del
| egations seem to have become suddenly
| appreciative of the publicity value OF
| these open sessions. But through sig
nificance of Mr. BRANDS request is some
thing even more far-reaching. 1t is that
/ France viii take the initiative in project
| ing the subject of land armament in this
conference. This will give Premier Bri-
| and the chance to show the relationship
between Germanys reluctance to pay rep
arations and the necessity of a large army
| TO enforce German obedience. This may
precipitate a, discussion of Americas war
debt and kindred questions which have
been hampering industrial progress every
where. The keynote of this conference