Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-12-07
WHO is GOING TO DISARM !?
BY Frederic J. Haskin


Washington. ID. c.. Dec. 3.--That
mo disarmament conference hns be-
come contest. In which each of the |
nations represented N striving to gainI
some relative advantage In navm and
military strength over tho others, Sci
now apparent TO all who have closely
followed the proceedings.
Furihermore. II Ia no surprise to
those who understood the nature Of
the gatherings. No nation In going 10
d1sarm az long ~ the causes OF inter-
national wsr remain unchanged, for
the simple reason that they are bound
70 cause war again. a certain saving
In taxes is the most that can be ey-
pcctcd from the disarmament phase
OF tho conference. Its consideration OF
tho Far East question. on the other
hand. may be regarded ss the nearesf
thing to sincere attempt which
modern diplomacy has ever made to
relieve causes Of war. Whether the
attempt viii have any success AZ ali
remains doubtful
France is coming in for q great deal
OF criticism because of her refusal TO
reduce her standing army which she
Germany ana Russia. II has been
pointed out repeatedly that both OF
these nations are in,apacitate1 for
an Indefinite length Of time. France
Is accused Of employing s3phistries to
establish her right TO large army.
30. 1t appears she is. and 80 are all
the other nations. Her stantins army
Is all France has. She possesses no
strength on the sea where she Is out
lclassed by three other powers Eng
land, the United states and Japan
Each Of these nations is trying 10 get
out of tho disarmament conference
some advantage in naval armament.
Japan stands out resoultely for a ratio
which Will leave her relatively strong
or than she was before the conference.
She brings forward tbs sophistry that
her peculiar position makes necessary
this extra strength
The Submarine Question.
England stands out f1r reducing IN
submarine tp the lowest possible stat.
us. Hemmed in on her little isIens
Great Britain Is more menaced by tho
submarine than by anything else. II
nearly starved her during the war.
II Is capable Of making the transpor-
tation OF food and material from her
colonies almost impossible. On the
other hand, IL is not important 10 the
defense Of her short insuiar coast1ine
Hence large submarine Hotillas and
the development Of the submarine nr9
the greatest menaces to England She
is in favor of almost abolishine sub.
marines She also comes forward with
her little sophistries. What a horrible
thing submarine warfare is,
The United states is not 80 i'm
pressed with this horror Submarines
are extremely useful on the defense Of
long coast line like ours. We are
in favor Of a rather large supply OF
submarines Furthermore. the gem
, uiness OF our desire to disarrn wa
J put to the test. IT seems. when poison
gas was mentioned. II was suggested
= that poison gas be eliminated alto
gether from international warfare. as
the most horrible weapon OF All, and
P 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
, 1.-THE next war it will be our strongest
asset. Are we going 10 throw II away
: We should say not.
J, All OF this is no criticism Of any.
- one II is merely a statement Of the
; inevitable. No nation is going TO dis
n arm as long as the world is fun o
!. things and situations that are cap
able OF causing international wars
Disarmament viii be possible whe'
q cause for international war has bee
, abolished everywhere as completely
for example as cause for war be
% tween the United States and Canad
has been abolished. And these cause
for international war will be abolish
eel when the common man refuses I
fight, and pay taxes.
II A good many common men in tn
world are in revolt against blOodshe
and taxes now. That is the real req
son why the conference assemble'
= That is the reason for all of it bun
combe about peace and fraternity, an
for what sincere efforts it is maxim
t. establish in the Far East some so
Of an arrangement that Will be le.
immediately and obviously productiN
of conflict than the present one.
But in the main the causes OF II
ternational war will not even
touched by the conference. The caus'
of international wars are the qua
rels OF investors of different natiol
alities over concessions of trade al
natural resources in countries n
strong enough to defend themselve
Every international war simmer
down 10 that in the long run. TT
late World War was fought for
large number of high ideals. as Y
all know. And we all know that noI
OF them were realized and that wht
the dust Of battle settled the vi
tors were TO be seen dividing u
among their respective investors, c
wells, iron deposits. spheres OF II
fuence and little things like that. III
- United States went into the war wit
no selfish interest. but she came OF
o. il with the financial mastery Of II
world in her left pants pocket.
What Benefits by Nlct0ryf
Yet how this financial mastery
the world has benefited the man WI
. works for wages or a salary in tn
- country. it Is hard TO discover. I