The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1921-12-31
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


ish and American delegations are deter
on the building of submarines by offering
such a set of rules for submarines in time
of war as to render them useless as a
weapon of offensive power.
The French have protested so violently
against the German methods of submarine
warfare and their record in the subject
is so recent that the Americans and Brit
ISL have now taken another tack in the
conference and are endeayOring to see
whether the French who abhorred the !
submarine when the Germans used it Will
now defend it as Il humane and legitimate
instrument of warfare.
The rules of warfare being drawn are
such as to make it impossible for sub
marine to attack a merchant ship for
obviously the underSea craft cannot take
care of the lives of either crew or passen- (
gers and one of the new rules provides
that merchant ships can't be sunk unless
that is done, OF course the submarines
would still be useful in the naval battle
against an invasion by fleet, but then
deStroyerS usually accompany the larger
ships anyway and destroyers mean sure
death to a submarine.
Issue May Arise Again.
For the moment the efforts to make
France agree to build a small tonnage
of submarines have been abandoned, but
it is questionable whether the issue has
been permanently disposed of The
Cannes, which is only another way of say
ing that when Prime Minister Lloyd
George meets Premier BRAND at the SUI
preme council ut Cannes some bargaining
may take place which will modify the
French attitude at Washington So far
h. 5f
cerned. it is plainly losing faith in and
patience with the French. The talk is
that the French have completely miscOn-
ceived the spirit of the Washington CON
ference. Instead of coming here with the
notion of giving up naval strength. the
French have attempted to bargain all
along the line. In the words of man
who ought to know. the French attitude
j. described as one of offended vanity ,
from the start" He attributes French !
pique to an accumulation of minor incl /
dents which would sound incredible if the |
details We're published.
Premier BRAND Offended.
He represents BRAND as exasperuted in
the first DAYS of the conference because of
some mechanical defect in the seating of
the French delegation at the plenary Ses-
sions. Another incident was the fact that
the French were not invited to partici-
pate as observers in the conversations
between China and Japan over Shantung. .
Rumor has it that the Japanese diln't
want the French because of the posi-
bility of obstruction. Still another cpl
SOde in which French diSpleaSure was in (
Cured arose out of the conversation pre-
ceding the negotiation of the four-poWer
pact. While France was included as a
signatory, her representatives didn't get
in on the ground floor in the shaping of
the project What France could possibly /
have wanted except to change the charac- |
ter of the pact itself is not explained but I
the French are said to have had their /
scnsibilities aroused just the same. Ad- I
miral De Bon, French naval expert !
WASH I taken in on the first conversation /
about capital ships, as the parley was /
between the British. Americans and Jap
anese. in order to get an agreement among |
the first three powers. That is still an
other cause of French discomfort There
are many incidents like these which
cumulatively have produced the French
policy of obstruction.
Regret Their Yielding.
Looking retrospeetively, Americans are
wondering whether il was such a wise
thing after all to abandon the tonic Of
land ornaments when Premier BRAND
made his speech. There are those who
believe the French would have played
BALI as the British doing if they had
been kept on the anxious seat concerning
land armament The dispatches inspired !
by the French foreign Office indicate that
French policy on submarines is not nee
cssarily infeXible and that if Il world
vide conference were called they would
give up their ideas of extensive submarine
tonnage. From this it is inferred that
the French are merely seeking a means
Of postponing the settlement of the gues-
ton until they obtain from other Euro
pean powers certain pledges which affect
hem much more vitality than the future
size of a navy. The French are attempt
ing TO prevent 4 German British entente
They are irritated over British policy in
the Near East. Conversely. the British
ire diSpleaSed over the separate peace
made by the French with the Turks. In ]
other words, the trouble is European and
not American. And. besides. the head of
he French delegation, NJ. Sarraut. is the
orother-in-law of the owner Of one of the
most influential newspapers in France, /
which Is said to control a large bloc dep- /.
lty. This means that Premier BRAND /,
,annot easily override NJ Sarrauts !
news and NJ, Sarraut is chatting over the '
act that Mr.. Hughes cabled Premier !
BRAND direct on the capital ship matter ;
Without taking it up with NJ Sarraut as :
read of the delegation here. The answer =
rom American sources to the French pro- /"
'oSaI made here was unthinkable and :
america couldn't believe the plan was
by the French government at 7,
lone and took course as is permitted !,
my government, namely. dealing with the n
lead OF another state when an emergency Il
rises. Franco-American discord is q
rowing. And the submarine is the cause