The New York herald., 1921-11-30
That Association of Nations >

Never vas a man of straw created
with moro swiftness and dexterity
than the one which the League Of
Nations supporters-and some Of its
opponents-stsrted TO make on Fri
day OF last week.
On that day it was said at the
White House that the Conference for
the Limitation OF Armament very
likely would not be the last of its
kind. The statement, like many
statements from the White House In
all Administrations, was not direct.
The Worlds Washington correspon-
dent, Mr.. NICHOLSON, interpreted 1t
by saying that an agreement on the
limitation of arms would be "onIy
step toward other meetings of the
Powers" This, we should say, was
Z careful and conservative statement
Of the case.
A correspondent OF the Times went
a little further and said there was On
foot "a movement to bring out of the
armament conference system os
similar but broader annual confer
ences to deal with the troubles of the
world"
The SNOWFALL kept rolling and by
Sunday the guessing had set up an
Association Of Nations" Our good
friend Senator BoRAH, evidently mis-
led by whisper disguised as q
whirlwind, became patriotically het
up and denounced the Association Of
Nations
The esteemed Times and World,
while not insisting that President
HARDING has started parallel to the
League of Nations, are not averse to
winking at the possibility of such an
international organization. The Fee
ming Post, which was one of the
weepers at the bier Of the Covenant,
swallows the straw man whole and
makes it an excuse for post mortem
defence OF the League.
Meanwhile and incidentally, foreign
correspondents in the United States
like Colonel REMINGTON of the Lon
don Daily Telegraph send word to
their papers that perhaps the "pro-
posal" may suggest ''an association
of nations which will have fewer de
fects, greater flexibility and more 'au.
thority than the League OF Nations -
So the guessing goes, with nothing
specific to warrant it.
America has seen how the League
Of Nations, with all its intricate ma
chinery, its inclusion Of tribal ma
tions, each with q vote on any and ali
business, failed to work. It sees how
conference OF certain nations, as.
sembled to discuss certain subjects OF
concern to all of them. Is accomplish
ing something in Washington now.
And America, which has already
voted down the League Of Nations by
seven million majority, does not want
the League or any copy OF it. OF
course President HARDING knows all
this. So does Mr.. HuoHEs. And Sen.
ator BoRAH should know how absurd
is the suspicion that the Administra-
ton is preparing anything like the
League.
Naturally, the success Of the Con-
ference for the Limitation Of Arma-
ment is likely to lead to other meet
ings of the Powers or Of any Of the
nations directly interested in some
particular international question.
This IS no more than an enlargement
OF diplomatic conferences for treaty
making or international cooperation.
II the nations. after a peaceful solu-
ton of the armament problem. did
not apply the same means to arrive
at agreement on other matters OF
Joint concern they would be very
foolish.
Meanwhile, the Washington con-
ference will go ahead without being
disturbed by rumors and visions Of
its transformation into supergov-