Free trader-journal and Ottawa fair dealer. (Ottawa, Ill.) 1920-1927, 1921-11-12

number than the public expects
There will also necessarily be com.
mittee meetings in private, and Of
course executive meetings of the
whole conference but the results Of
those meetings will come out later
in the open sessions,
Armaments Come First,
The official program as proposed by
the American government lists first
the question of ornaments, and sec.
ond the Far Eastern and Pacific cues.
lions. It may BE that the Far Eastern
questions actually will be discussed
first I'm the conference, possibly by
some means as this.
The question of ornaments will fin.
ally be settled by the conference only
after receiving the reports OF experts.
These will come only after long work
and discussion. But 10 get the subject
into the hands OF experts 1t first is
necessary TO bring il before the con-
ference II might bc brought up and
referred 20 committees and appro-
pirate sections and then while they
are al work the conference might go
on with the discussion of the Far
Eastern and Pacific problems This
is only one OF the suggested ways in
which 10 might be- done. The confer
enCe, of course, viii make the decision
Then Far Eastern Affairs.
In discussing the Far Eastern and
Pacific problems, the conference Will
have straiehraway statesmen's sub.
iect The experts who have TO wres.
tie with the question OF armament
will have a knotty problem difficult Of
approach. Their search is for a yard
stick. as Il were a common denomin-
ator which can be applied to all the
nations for the whole question of ar.
mameut reduction is said by the eX.
perts to be entirely a question Of re-
latiyity. There is doubt they say
that II will be put on a "llat rate be
cause of the well recognized and pc.
cuiar situation of the various ma
tions. II couldn't be considered from
the viewpoint Of financial expenditure
they say. because of the various values
Of money in world exchange and the
variations in labor costs and stan.
dards. It couldn't be considered in
number of guns, the experts say, be-
cause science might make a small gun
more destructive and efficient than a
large one Neither could it be con
sidered in number of warships alone,
the naval men say. because the mer-
chant marine which always is an
auxiliary to any navy would have to
be taken into consideration. II the
taxable resources Of a nation were to
be considered the economic experts
say. it would be found that the cost Of
a dreadnaught weighs two and a half
times as heavily on Great Britain as
it does on the United States and
roughly nine times as heavy on Japan.
U. S. Always Ready?
Then there is another form of ar
mament little thought Of sometimes
but potential, the experts say, to be
considered Il is the material re.
sources Of a nation which can be turn
ed to the account of war in the quick
and decisive fashion that the United
States organized for victory over Ger
many. A cash register factory, for
instance, became the greatest small
arms plant the world ever had seen,
dye-stuffs plants became producers Of
thigh explosiver over night. steel mills
turned to the quick production OF en-
gines Of war, wool and cotton mills
turned from their peaceful courses to
clothe armies, even the farmers barn
yards turaad TO the business OF sus-
tanning troops in the field.
Arranging these facts before them,
the American viewpoint as it has been
expressed from time to time is that
the prospect for limitation of arma-
ment lies rather in a desire for peace
expressed in deeds which will remove
the causes for war That done, their
view is a limitation OF ornaments be-
comes simpler problem.