Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-08-27
=, ASHINGTON, D. c., Aug. 2S.-Must
" international war cease because the
ooxor,oo roon will M 1opoar NIT I'm
common man Will no longer put M

wv international war cease DSCduSo Lu0
common man will no longer put up
the money necessary to carry it on:
That is the real question which the Wash
ington conference on disarmament and in
ternational finance will consider. There is
some hope Of results from this conference
because it approaches the question of war
from new angle.
There have been efforts to abolish war
since before Christ, and all Of them have
failed completely. Rulers and men of
wealth have always wanted wars in order
to increase their power and wealth. Often
most of the people want war, too. A war
may be great national calamity, but it is
also great national emotional debauch and
shake-up. Our participation in the World
War was just that. Many were killed and
MANNED but many others had a good time,
or made money, or saw the world, or gained
new point of view 1t is useless to pre-
tend that wars are desired only by the men
in power who make them. The excitement
and change which they afford is often
craved by the common man as well, even
though he bears all the cost and takes all
the risk.
But the cost and the risk are always be-
coming greater, and the excitement less.
Our participation in the war was slight We
did not feed the full weight of it. The
Europeans did. Burdened with taxes, most
of their young men dead, the European peo-
pies see themselves headed straight Tor
more war. They know that they cannot pay
the cost Of more war either in life or in
money.
That is the meaning Of the disarmament
conference The political powers Of the
world have called it because they know
there is a demand for it. They know that
the common man, who does the fighting
and pays the bills, is in a striking mood.
| - hoe oil n
hands, and never could be in anyone elses.
| Any time that he refuses to fight there
cannot be a war. And he Just now mas a
| bellyful of both fighting and paying. There
| fore the political and diplomatic gentlemen
| will meet here to decide among themselves
| Just how much they must concede to this
new mood of the common man. The result
| of the conference really depends upon him.
He is public opinion. If public opinion
remains steadily against high taxes and
| heavy armament, the politicians will nave
| to make some concessions. But If public
| opinion gets excited about the national AMI
mosties which will be aired, if its national
| risibilities are stirred when the Georges and
| Vivianis begin hurting defiance at each
other, then the great disarmament confer
| ence will be one more Hague tribunal, which
accomplished no more for world peace IMAM
| a sewing circle
War Debt Striking Figure
| to time have expressed the view that moth
| ing would be accomplished toward universal
peace until the nations Of the world were
| too poor to support big armies and nav1es.
! That time has arrived now. When the dele
| cations to the conference called by Presi-
| dent Harding meet in Washington in NO
vember, nations will be represented having
| an aggregate debt Of $385,000, 000,O 600.
| That debt will be the greatest figure at the
| conference table.
| AS a matter of fact, some of the great
military and naval powers of the earth are
proceeding already on the assumption that
| the conference will succeed in its aims, and
| are cutting down or hating their military
| and naval programs Reliable information
! has reached American officials that Japan
| has halted work on her naval construc-
| ton Great Britain has reduced her force
| of marines from $1,000 to about 1900,
| and reduced her naval personnel to 10000.
| Other nations are following their examples
| to a greater or less extent.
| Conferences on the subject have been UNI
der way in the United States since before
| the election. last autumn. Roughly, the
expected outcome of the conference may be
| set down now, SO far as America is con-
| cerned, from information obtained from the
| most reliable official sources. American
ornaments are expected to be reduced to
| twelve first line battleships in full commits
sion, three squadrons Of four ships each,