The Washington times., 1921-12-04
BY PHILIP FRANCIS.

Colonel Repington. who knows
his Europe Al the average Ameri-
can knows Main street. said the
other day that there was. an air
of detachment In Washington that
was utterly unlike the atmosphere
Of any other capital Of q great
nation. He felt, he gasd. rs if he
were as remote from the affairs
of Europe as he would be In Mars.
The English soldier and writer
Is right. Washington IL the capi-
tai of America. America 10 ro-
mote from the affairs of Europe.
Not remote as distance goes. II
is a shorter journey from America
to Europe than II IL from Seattle
to Savannah. But America u re-
mote from the Psychology OF
Europe, from the viewpoints Of
remain from Europe In those
On the other hand Europe u
equally remote from America.
most Europeans arc ignorant
even of physical America, to LAY
nothing Of Amerio as psychology,
politics. or ideals.
Our Ignorance Capitalized.
Young Vanderbilt. writing for
The Washington Times, says that
among q hundred and forty odd
delegates and attaches coming BY
steamer to the conference. only
ten could say what city was the
capital of the United States. Most
of them thought 1t was New
York. 1t would not have been
hard to convince them that IT was
Lincoln. Neb.. or Hoboken. N. J.
This remoteness accounts Sor
foreign propagandists deceive our
people, and our officials. We are
perpetually attributing our own
characteristics and our own cut
look to Europeans. And 10 We
attribute TO them motives they
never had and characteristics they
do not possess.
The British are pastmasterS In
playing upon our ignorance OF Eu-
rope.
They used this skill to impose
grotesque caricatures OF Germany
and the German people upon the
American mind. though we had
lived here ins our own country with
German neighbors on every hand
for more than hundred years. Now
they are using the same skill to
destroy the ideal of France which
they created in the American mind
and to impose in It's place q hostile
caricature of France as untrue TO
the real likeness Of France as wis
the sentimental picture they first
created.
The only propaganda which never
changes In the ceaseless Engiish
propa ganda directed toward regain
ing for the British Empire the Amer
lea which George Ill lost from that
empire.
The most skillful single achieve
ment of this propaganda was TO ex-
cite our people to enter the war -,s
England's ally and to submit our
American navy to the commands OF
British admiralty officers.
England's Purpose Hero.
The next most daring attempt of
this propaganda Ia the effort beirg
made here at this conference 10
make the American navy dependent
for safety upon an alliance with the
English navy. For when we quit
the realm of fudge, tommyrot aid
sentimental slush and get down to
brass tacks and American horse
sense. that is exactly the purpose OF
England in coming to this confer
ence.
In every single respect this pro-
posed naval agreement and entente
between America. England ana
Japan is more mischievous, more
dangerous and more destructive OF
American sovereignty than the
covenants of Mr.. Wilson's re-
pudiated League of Nations.
Our naval officers are q unit In
areeing that we will have neither
any navy nor any yards capable Of
building naval vessels II we carry
out this proposition t. scrap our
powerful ships and close the naval
chip yards for ten years.
To get at the result of such con-
ditions upon America, Just visualize
an agreed-upon destruction Of all
navies as having taken place. In
that case, naval power. In war ss
well as in peace. would lie in the
hands Of the nation or the alliance
having the largest and speediest
merchant marine fleet capable of
being hastily armed and used ~