The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1921-11-15
ARMS PROGRAM
Continued From Page One.)

/ CONTINUED From Page One.)
sembled the country which I represent is,
/ as everybody knows, most intimately in
| terested in all naval questions.
statesmen of all countries are begin
ming to discover that the !a5ors and diff
faculties Of peace are almost as arduous
and require almost rs great qualities as
those which are demanded for the conduct
! of a successful war.
Adds New Anniversary.
1.-THE struggle to restore the world to the
condition of equilibrium, so violently in
| terfered with by five years of war, is one
! that taxes and must tax the efforts of
/ everybody. And 1 congratulate you, if
! may, Mr.. Chairman, on the fact that you
have added new anniversary which will
! henceforth be celebrated in connection with
/ this movement towards reconstruction in
! the same spirit in which we welcomed the
anniversary, celebrated only n few hours
ago, of the date on which hostilities came
to an end. If the eleventh of November
i is date imprinted on grateful hearts, I
think November l. will also prove to be
an anniversary welcomed and thought of
! in a grateful spirit by those who in the
future shall look back on the arduous
nations of the world, not merely to restore
pre-war conditions but to see that war
conditions shall never again exist.
Il count myself among the fortunate of
! the earth in that l was present and to
] that extent had share in the proceedings
/ of last Saturday. They are memorable in
| deed. The secret was admirably kept I
| hope that all the secrets, so long as they
ought to be secret, OF our discussions, will
mood 1 have my doubts But, however,
that may be- the secret in this case was
most admirably kept and listened to
speech which / thought eloquent, appro-
| PIRATE in every way fitting prelude to the
| work of the conference which was about to
| open, which indeed had been opened by
I the president without supposing that any
! thing very dramatic lay behind. Aud
suddenly became aware, as L suppose all
present became aware, that they were as
| sisting not merely at an eloquent and adj
mIrable speech, but at great historical
went gN, u was leu up TO with such art
Inc transition seemed so natural that
when the blow fell, when the speaker ut
tered the memorable words, which have
now gone round and found an echo in
every quarter Of the civilized world, it
came as shock of profouSd surprise it ex-
cited the soul of emotions we have when
some wholly near event suddeniV springs
| into view and we felt that a new chapter
in the history of the world reconstrt ction
had been worthily opened.
The absolute simplicity Of the proceed
] lure, the easy transition and the great drh-
matte climax. were the perfection of art,
which shows that the highest art and the
bined.
British Most Concerned.
snow, said I would explain why l ven
ture to rise first today to deal with the
subject which is in all hearts. As l have
h it is because the British empire and
Great Britain. the two together. are more
profoundly concerned with all that touches
matters naval than lit is possible for any
other nation to be and this not believe me
Tor any reasons of ambition, not for any
reasons drawn from history or tradition
put from the hard brutal necessities of
plain and obvious fact
There never has been in the history of
the world, great empire constituted as
doubt familiar to everybody whom 1 am adj
dressing imaginativeIy conceived precisely
what the situation of the British empire
Is in the connection.
Most of my audience are citizens of the
Onited States The United States stands
solid, 1mpregnable, self sufficient all of
its lines of communication protected dou-
bly, protected, completely protected from
any conceivable hostile attack. It is not
merely that you are one hundred and ten
Inlillons of population; it is not merely
that you are the wealthiest country in the
or your country. the geographical position
or your country, is such that you are
wholly immune from the particular peIfls
60 60 which, from the nature of the case, the
british empire is subject.
SuppoSlng- for example. that your west
ern states, for whose safety YOU are re
sponsibls were suddenIv reu,sorad ~ 90
miles across the sea. Surprising that Won
found that the very heart of your empire
the very heart Of this great nation, was a
small crowded island depending for over
fea trade. not merely, not chiefly for it,
lnNuries: but depending upon oversee com
fuunleatlon for the food upon which they
Subsist. Surprising it was familiar
thought IN your minds that there never
we're At any moment OF the wear within
the limits Of your state more than seven
weeks food for the population and that
their food had to be replenished by over
Then, If you will draw that picture
ana II you VIII see all that it impiies and
all that it carries with it. you will 'under-
stand why it is that every citizen of the
British empire. whether lie comes from the
farm dominions of the Pacific or whether
he lives in the small island in the North
Sea never can forget that it is by sea com
munication that he lives. and that without
sea communication the empire to which
lie belongs, would perish
Do not suppose that 1 am uttering