The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-09-05
HARDING AIMS
AT PRACTICAL
ARMS LIMITING
President Has No
False Hopes of
Millennium.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Copyright, 1920
,cial to The Argus

Washington. Sept. 5.-False hopes
made people forget the frailties OF
human nature at Paris and gave the
peace conference an anti-climax
which President Harding seems de-
termined to avoid in the forthcom-
ing session of the powers to limit
armaments.
Mr.. Harding's speech at the
army war college was intended to
offset exaggerated impressions that
the millennium could be reached be-
tween nations through the instru-
mentality of a single conference of
powers. The president would rath-
er understate his hopes and accom-
pllsh some practical results than
to promise much and find that in
ternational discord made the full
fillment impossible.
Hughes Shows Caution.
The truth is the immensity of
the undertaking is beginning to
crop out in official quarters. The
administration knows it has tackled
a job upon which it does not dare
to fail. Yet the circumstances are
not always within the control of a
single nation. Agreements must be
made by unanimous consent. Any
one nation can kick over the traces
and spoil the conference. That's
why Secretary Hughes has to pro-
ceed with such caution in the ne
gotiations which preceded the indi-
vidual acceptances of the Ameri-
can invitation. The burden has
not been lifted by the agreement of
hn 20 Ill
here The responsibilities are cum
ulative. In saying what shall or
shall not be included in the pro-
gram, the nations themselves will
indicate how far the conference
will go toward practical results.
There exchanges of views now are
in progress.
Human Nature Unchanged.
h The president gave a hint in his
speech at the war college on one
phase of armament discussion. He
set at rest any thought that the
army and navy would be scrapped.
1t is inevitable that the morale of
the nations army and navy should
be weakened by a prospect of cur
taiIment AS commander-in-ch chief
of the army and navy, the presi-
dent expressed the view that the
time never would come when fight
ing machinery could be altogether
dispensed with. He favors approx
innate" disarmament Woodrow Will
son expressed it as "a reduction of
armament to a point consistent with
domestic safety" Mr.. Harding has
not yet outlined whether he wants
to go that far or whether his idea
is that the American military es-
tablishment shall bear a certain
fixed relationship to that of other
powers. Any idea that America in
tended to favor the absolute aboli-
ton of armies and navies was eras-
ed by Mr.. Harding. who took pains
to point out that human nature is
unchanged after 1000 years and
that the spirit of polemics may be
tanned but is not forever extinct.
Wars VIII Come Again.
The president expects wars to
come in the future. He hopes they
will be humanely fought He wants
to remove the sources of friction.
One of those sources, it has been
argued. is the accumulation of war
machinery. the use of which is too
tempting when nations become ir-
ritated. II armament provokes war.
then the president hopes the lin
itation will be sufficient to prevent
that from being said again. There
are other causes of misunderstand-
ing. Mr.. Harding hopes as many
as possible will be removed. Amer
lea will do all she can to achieve
that Ohfect Rut the president
speech at the army college is sig
nificant OF what the entire admin
istration view will be toward the
forthcoming conference. 1t VIII not
trv to do the impossible, but sim
pIy as much as it can toward MIN
imizing the chances of war.