The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-23
LONDON EDITOR
SEES FAR EAST
PROBLEMS VITAL
"What Is Gilman" Re
mains Knotty Question
To Clear Away.
Continued from PAGE One.

C0nttnueo from fooe O"e.
being under suspicion of accessible
ity to foreign influences There
will ultimately have to be con.
cordant action and probably some
form of concordant supervision fol-
lowing upon concordant declara-
tons.
Treaty Must Go.
The public at home should clearly
understand that this desirable con-
summation will probably be impos-
slble while the Anglo-Japanese al
lance persists. Account must be
taken OF Official facts. They can
not be argued away or ignored
One such fact is that in the, hap
PLY. unlikely event of complica-
tions in the Far East. important
portions Of the British Empire
would not be able not to side
against Japan. alliance or no al
lance. Therefore, the interests of
the British Empire demand the alb
rogation of the alliance.
Another fact which is less di-
rectly a British interest, but which
Is a British interest nevertheless, il
that more than 100000. 900 Ameri-
can citizens are firmly convinced
that, in practice. the influence of
the alliance is anti-American.
Whether reasonable or unreason-
able, this conviction must be rec
osnized. since IT initiates against
that closeness of mutual compre-
hension among the English-speak-
ing nations which is eminently a
British as 1t Is eminently an Amer
lean interest.
Alliance StiH Exists.
Yet another fact is that the al
lance exists. and will exist, until
1t is denounced or abrogated II
1t were denounced tomorrow IL
would run for another year. 1t
can only be abrogated by the con-
sent of the contracting parties. Is
II In the interest of both contract
ing parties to abrogate II?
The answer is certainly in the
Affirmative. The relations between
the British and the Japanese. as.
irdeed between the Americans and
the japanese delegations. are of the
friendliest. All desire sincere,
practical agreement on the limita-
ton of naval ornaments, and all
appear to desire a practical agree
ment upon the problems OF the Pa
cific and the Far East. Neither de-
sire can be fulfilled until the ground
has hann c1aarad he -
the Anglo-Japanese alliance. The
United States will not come as a
third party into any form of an
Anglo-Japanese past that might be
conceived merely as a substitute for
the alliance. but the United States
might join in an agreement or a
declaration calculated to preserve
peace in the Pacific, were the ground
nrst cleared, and were the parties
to such a declaration not neces-
sarily limited to the three principal
Pacific powers.
Takes Concrete Issues.
This conference is dealing with
some very concrete issues, but it is
dealing also, and largely, with i'm
ponderabilia. The naval question
itself. precise though II may appear
on the surface. will be Influenced
by the empty nothings," the "trifes
light as air." which, in truth, form
at once the substratum and the en-.
veloping atmosphere of interna
tional politics. The program for tn.
limitation of naval ornaments pu
forward by the United States an
now under expert consideration
may need, as American naval ex
perts perceive. emendation both 1,
the interests OF the United State
and in those of international agree
ment. These lamentations may b
the more readily suggested b,
Americans, who alone can sugges
them. and be accepted by others 1
all appearance of special Anglo
japanese arrangements have bee
previously removed. 1t is a question
or maintaining at a high tempera
ture the glow of sincerity and goo,
faith with which the conference be
| gan. and which received adde,
warmth from Mondays sitting.
believe it is possible to maintain Il
and that 1t should be done.
Copyright. 1891, by United News)