The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-22
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
information Bureau
FREDERIC }. HAsKIN. Director.
washington, D. @.
A TWO POWER CONFERENCE.


really an effort to reach an agreement
between these two, which viii stabfl
ize international relations enough to
permit the reduction of naval arma-
| ments, is the view held by many of
| the best informed observers.
| The two powers. of course, are the
] United States and Great Britain,
| France and Italy are powers in Eu-
rope but in their present condition,
neither of them can alone exert de-
cisiye influence upon world affairs.
| Japan is the one Asiatic power, but
| she is not a world power if she stands
alone. Her important part in the
| international affairs of the last 20
years has been made possible by her
alliance with England.
The public is prone to regard the
| conference as an effort to make waE
| impossible by agreements for the re-
! duction of ornaments to the point
| where the nations will not BE able to
| fight. AS a matter of fact, disarma-
ment is a minor phase of the confer
| ence. Military disarmament probably
will not even be discussed. Naval ar
! maments will at most be limited in
such ar way as to reduce the burdens
/ of taxation and perhaps pave the way
/ for further reduction at some future
/ time. But such a reduction would
not make war impossible or even
much more improbable than it now is
There are in the world certain forces
| of military and economic imperialism
which make for war They are pres
/ ent in all of the countries represented
at the conference except China. But
in some other countries they are more
! clearly dominant than in others. To
curb these forces is the real object of
the conference, or at least, its best
| hope of taking a step toward insur-
| ing peace. The conference will be
another great exhibition of diplomatic
horse trading. like the meeting at Yer
| sailles, but it need not be as futile as
that one was. 1t cannot hope to make
war impossible It is even among the
possibilities that it will precipitate a
war But it is also among the posi-
| bilities that it will be a setback for
| imperialstic ambition in several quar-
tiers, that it will check naval building,
and that it will establish an equilib-
rum in world affairs which will make
another world war improbable for a
long time. During that time the re-
vulsion Of men against war, which
has been slowly growing since the
middle ages will have a chance to
grow stronger still. The growth of
this feeling is the only thing that can
ever really prevent war. GOVernm entS
inevitably make wars, but when the
common man refuses to fight them or
pay for them, the governments will be
disarmed indeed.
Japan's Policy.
One of the countries in which the
imperialistic or warmaking feeling is
| most clearly dominant is Japan. That
fact is recognized and admitted upon
all sides. Japan has enforced her will
in Manchuria and Siberia. She has
seized Shantung and imposed her 81
points upon China These moves are
clearly the beginning of a course of
economic and military imperialism in
Asia which would inevitably cause an
other war sooner or later. Further
more, this course on the part of Japan
is inimicaI to the United States, ben
cause this country is-commltted to
policy of maintaining the open door
(equal eeonomio opportunity for all
nations) in China, and of insuring
China's national integrity and aNton-
omy. This policy is embodied in the
Hay doctrine. 1t has been assented to
by practically all of the other nations
in words, but it has been violated by
all of them in deeds, and especially by
Japan with the support of Great Brit
ain. The United States must either
check this violation of her traditional
policy with regard to China or else she
must withdraw entirely from the Pa
cific, leaving China to. her fate.
There are some pacifists who ap-
pear to favor the latter course. They
say that if the United States disarmed
and withdrew from the international
struggle, other nations would eventu-
ally follow suit. But this is rather
hard to prove. It seems more prob
able that if the United States withdrew
her influence from the Orient she
would merely leave it an open field for
the imperialistic ambitions of other
nations, and that she would eventually
have to encounter this imperialism
when it was much stronger than it is
today.
If then the United States IS to re-
main factor in the Pacific it is
clear that the chief force with when
she has to contend is the Imperialism
of Japan, supported by Great Britain.
1t is of the utmost importance that
the American public should under
stand these facts. But nothing would
be more unfortunate than for that
understanding to create feeling against
either Japan or Great Britain. There
are liberal and anti-militarist forces
in Japan just as there are in Great
Britain Likewise there are militaris-
tic and imperialistic forces in the
United States. The situation should
be regarded as a struggle of liberal
forces in all countries against war
making forces in all countries. The
japanese who is liberal and wants
peace and disarmament is an ally of
the American in the same frame of
mind And with regard to Japan it
must be remembered that Japan s
whole rise in the world has been by
war, and that she owes her very ex-
istence as a nation to her army and
navy. She is the only nation in Asia
that has not been overwhelmed an
exploited by the Europeans. She has
preserved her integrity by toting a
gun and she knows it It cannot be a
matter for surprise, then. that she is
not quick to lay down that gun.
Anglo-Jap Alliance.
None the-less world peace depends
largely upon the remuneration by jap
AM of her imperialistic ambitions in
Asia generally and in China in par
ticR1ar. These ambitions are made
possible largely by her alliance with
Great Britain. If this alliance comes
to an end the militaristic party in
Japan will be weakened and without
losing anything that is rightfully hers,
Japan will probably be forced to adopt
a foreign policy less menacing to her
Ilhich hnrs and to the nnaca Of -ha