The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-07-11
Conference Seems Certain
"WE WELCOME
DISARMAMENT":
LLOYD GEORGE
Message from Hard
ing Received With
"PLeasure." !"

/ London, July 11.-CBy the Asso-
| ciated Press .)-Presiden Hard
ing's message looking to the call
! ing of an international conference
on the Limitation of arnnaments has
been received with the utmost
pleasure by Great Britain, Lloyd
George. the prime minister, declar-
ed in the house of commons today
Speaking on the subject of the
American communication, the
| prime minister said:
/ Il need not say that we welcome
with the utmost pleasure President
Harding's wise and courteous mi
tiatiye."
! Speaks for Empire.
The house cheered this state
ment, and the premier added:
In saying that l speak for the
/ empire as whole"
/ The premier said that China
would be treated as an independ-
ent in the conference on the Pa
cific affairs.
/ The world has been looking to
/ the United States for such a lead
3
F to President Harding's message.
Il am confident that the house will
I esteem it as an act of far-seeing
. craftsmanship and will whole
heartedly wish it success. No ef-
! fort will be lacking to make it so
] on the part of the British empire,
which shares to the full the liberal
/ and progressive spirit inspiring it. -
| Colonel George Harvey. the
/ American ambassador, was in the
gallery of the house to hear the
premier's statement.
! Touches AnglO-Jap Treaty.
( Lloyd George began mis- state
ment by referring to the Anglo
I japanese treaty. He said the Jap
anese government took the view
that no notice of denunciation of
the treaty had been given, and that
view also was held by Lord Curzon,
the foreign minister. The matter
was referred to the lord chancel-
I Tor, the prime minister declared,
who after a consultation with the
! law officers of the crown, held that
no notice had yet been given and
that the treaty, therefore, remained
| in force until denounced. 1t was,
| however, Lloyd George said. the
desire of both parties that the
agreement be brought into com
plete harmony with the covenant of
the League of Nations.
Was Only "Waiting.-
when l told the house last
Thursday l hoped to be in a posi-
tion to make a statement on the
| Pacific and for eastern question to-
day" the prime minister declared
q was waiting, as l expected re-
plies to a conversation that had
| taken place between Lord CurZon
and representatives of the govern
Tment of the United States and
| China as a result of discussions in
| the imperial cabinet.
| Il am very glad to be able to in
form the house that the views of
the government of the United
States, which reached me last
night. are extremely satisfa ctory.
| The Chinese government also re-
| piled favorablv We have not as
yet had a formal reply from the
! government of Japan, but we have
| good reason to hope it will be in
the same sense.
Great Step Forward.
| Now that these views have been
received, l am very glad to be at
liberty to inform the house fully
regarding the course which the dis
cussion of the imperial cabinet
took. / do this with particular sat
isfaction. because it will show how
very valuable a step forward we
have been able to take, by common
| consent, in the sphere of foreign
affairs
THE broad lines of the imperial
policy in the Pacific and far east
was the very first subject to which
we addressed ourselves, having
/ special regard to the Anglo-Jap-
anese agreement, the future of
| China and the bearing of both these
! questions on the relations of the
British empire with the United
/ States. We were guided in our de-
liberations by three main consid-
erations.
Wants {. s. Frienship.
"In Japan we have an old and
: proved ally. The agreement, now
Of 20 years standing, between US,
( has been of very great benefit. not
only to ourselves and her, but the
! peace of the far east. In China We
| have a very numerous people of
/ great potentialities who esteem our
/ friendship highly and whose inter
ests we desire to assist and ad-
| vance"
This statement of the prime min
lister elected cheers from the house
In the United States We see to-
| dav. as we have always seen. the
people closest to our own aims and
ideals" the prime minister con-
tinued. "and with whom it is for US
not only to desire an interest, but
deeply rooted instinct to consult
aad to cooperate"
Premier is Cheered-
There was renewed cheering
from the public at this point
Lloyd George went on:
These were the main considera-
tions in our minds and upon them
we were unanimous. The object OF
our discussions was to find a meth
cd of combining all these three fac
tors in a policy that would remove
the danger of a heavy naval expen-