Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-12-08

wv the disarmament conference has be-
come a contest, in which each of the
nations represented is striving to gain some
relative advantage in naval and military
strength over the others, is now apparent to
all who have closely followed the proceed
ings.
Furthermore, it is no surprise to those
who understood the nature of the gather
lngs. No nation is going to disarm as long
as the causes Of international war remain
unchanged, for the simple reason that they
are bound to cause war again. certain saw
ing in taxes is Re most that can be ex-
pected from the disarmament phase of the
conference. It's consideration of the Far East
question, on the other hand, may be re-
garded as the nearest thing to a sincere at
tempt which modern diplomacy has ever
made to remove causes of war; Whether the
attempt will have my success at all remains
doubtful.
Franco is coming in for great deal of
criticism because # her refusal to reduce
her standing army, which she asserts she
needs to protect her against Germany and
Russia. 1t has been pointed out repeatedly
that both of these nations are incapacitat-
ed for an indefinite length of time. France
is accused of employing sophistries to es-
tablish her right to a large army.
SO, it appears, she is, and so are all the
other nations. Her standing army is all
France has. She possesses no strength on
the sea, where she is outclassed by three
other powers-England the United States
and Japan. Each of those nations is trying
to get out of the disarmament conferences
some advantage in naval armament. Japan
stands out resolutely for a ratio which will
leave her relatively stronger than she was
before the conference. She brings forward the
sophistry that her peculiar position makes
necessary this extra strength.
The Submarine Question
England stands out for reducing the sub
marine to the lowest possible status. Hem
med in on her little island, Great Britain
is more menaced by the submarine than by
anybody else 1t nearly starved her during
the war 1t is capable of making the trans
portation of food and material from her
colonies almost impossible. On the other
hand, it is not important to the defense of
her short insu1ar coast line. Hence large
submarine flotillas and the development Of
the submarine are the greatest menaces to
Englan She is in favor of almost abolish
ing submarines. She also comes forward
with her little sophistries. What a horrible
thing submarine warfare is!
The United States is not so impressed with
this horror. Submarines are extremely use
full on the defense of long coastline like
ours. We are in favor Of a rather large sup
ply Of submarines. Furthermore, the genu-
ineness of our desir to disarm was put to
the test, it seem , when poison gas was
mentioned. It was suggested that poison gas
be eliminated altogether from international
warfare, the most horrible weapon of
all, and the Anne 4ican delegation demurred.
1t is said that our war department has the
formula for the most destructive gas on
earth, and that in the next war it will be
our strongest asset. Are we going to throw
it away? We should say not.
All Of this is no criticism of anyone. It is
merely a statement of the inevitable. No
nation is going to disarm as long as the
world is full Of things and situations that
are capable of causing international wars.
Disarmament will be possible when cause
for international war has been abolished
everywhere as completely, for example, as
cause for war between the United States and
Canada has been abolished. And these causes
for international war will be abolished when
the common man refuses to fight and pay
taxes.
A good many common men in the world
are in revolt against bloodshed and taxes
now. That is the real reason why the con-
Of it's bumcombe about peace and fraternity,
and fol what sin cere efforts it is making to
establish in the Far East some sort of an
arrangement that viii be less Immediately
and obviously productive of conflict than
the present one.
But in the main the causes of information
al war will not even be touched by the con-
ference. The causes of international wars are
the quarrels Of investors different nation
alties over concessions Of trade md natural
resources in countries not strong enough to
defend themselves. Fverv International war