The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1921-03-20
PRESS COMMENT
Secret Diplomacy Still Rules the

belonging to the league. Since It's Tor
nation they have gone on in the same
ola paths of secret and selfish diplo-
macy that. they have been treading for
| a thousand years or more. England
coveted the oil wells of Mesopotamia,
| TO furnish fuel for her warships, and
| the council, representing herself,
France, Belgium and Japan, all three
subservient to Great Britain, granted
her request for a mandate, at the same
time giving France a mandate over
| Syria. This did not entirely satisfy
| France for she considered that Eng
land had an undue proportion of the
oil territory and for a time there was
a GOODNESS between the two nations,
which threatened to disrupt the league.
1t was finally patched UP by some sort
| of a secret agreement, the terms of
which are unknown to the other ma
| tions to this day.
Finally the assembly Of the league
met In it's first annual session at Ge-
| neva, and some inquisitive member
| what England proposed to do with her
mandate over Mesopotamia, and was
politely told that it was none of the
| assembly's business, that the supreme
council was not responsible to the as :
SciIrDiys ana Cftat IlilBltI1u COulu HOT
be expected to hold the mandate over
Mesopotamia, out of pure benevolence,
but would reimburse herself from the
products of the country, which in the
plain English of King George, meant
that she intends to exploit the oil wells
| to the limit. This drew a protest from
the United States, which although not
member of the league, took an i'm
M tn, fra iy,or tha
dates, and commended that any profits
coming from them should go to the
league and not to the members holding
the mandate. So far as known Eng
land has not renouncsA her claim to
the oil product of Mesopotamia nor is
| 1t expected that she will, Optimism
does not go as far as that.
| There is the entente between France
and POLAND of which only a semi
official version has been made public
as yet. 1t seems to have cleverly evad-
ed the covenant of the League of Ma
| tfons, by France promising Poland
protection against aggression from
the east or from the west" meaning,
of course, from bolshevist Russia or
lmperialist Germany. OF course France
exacted guild pro quo for her pro-
4
the oil territory of Galicia, and certain
economic advantages in the way of
| tariffs. But the League of Nations had
never consulted.
Then again there IS that interesting
dispute between Japan and the Unit
ed States over the island of zap, q
bit of barren rock In the mid-Pacific
uyhinh DraSi1ant Wilson a n
never heard, until 1t was brought UP
In the Paris conference. Then it's inn
portance as a cable relay station was
realized and President Wilson and
Secretary Lansing both insisted that ii
should be internationalized and used
equity by all nations, as basis for
cable communications and operations
That was the distinct understanding
when the Americans left Paris. Never
theless. the council assigned 1t to
Japan at its meeting last May and ia
pan stubbornly insists on the validity
of her claim. The United States does
not claim control over the island, but
/ insists on equality in its use with other
nations. Great Britain seems to favor
! Japan in the controversy, and the out
come can only be guessed at.
j But all these discussions and bicker-
! ings seem to prove that it is still the
same old world, and the disposition
Of all mankind has not been changed
by the stirring events of the past few
years.-Tampa Times.
Big Day At PensacoIa-
/ Pensacola, Fla, Mar. 8.-We have
always been told that st. Augustine Is
4 the oldest settlement in Florida Here
they insist that this is a mistake, PEN
sacola was settled and a fort built
here before st. Augustine was thought
of and y show US the ruins of the
! fort to prove it. OF course there is a
respect that we all must show to age
I notice something of it in the attitude
of the young ladies on the trip. When
I take off my hat 1 am perfectly safe
from all vamping. We put in a most
interesting day yesterday at Pensacola
First they walked US up at $50 O'Clock
in the morning to feed us and then
automobiles were furnished to take us
about the city. I drew a nice machine
! driven by a Mrs. Welles, whose use OF
/ the American language is liquid and
4 delightful.
Pensacola bay is one of the fine har-
bors of the coast. We spent the day
on steamer and at the government
aviation school and made a trip out
into the gulf OF Mexico far enough out
to feel the swell of the sea. Whether
| 1t was for our benefit or not the avia-
4 ton officers put on a show and we
saw the combination air and water
boats take off from the ways and could
count thirty-five in the air at once.
Two big dlrigible balloons hung above
us watching and three officers from a
/ tall tower swept the air in every di-
rection to cali immediate relief to any
/ ship which might get into trouble. AT
noon we were served with chowder
made from the famous red snapper.
| The banquets we attend are given
by the chambers of commerce along
| the route. They are we'll organized,
have plenty of money and spend it
freely. Every visitor is possible citi-
mo 10 nj