Pueblo chieftain., 1921-10-30

|ly the equivalent of. an aggressive ACT
looking toward war. Thcre Is no gov
crpmcnt among those invited to the
conference which could take such . po.
sition and survive tho disapproval OF
their people at home. These govern
msnts are all composed Of statesmen
| who are eager to continue In power
and to keep their hold upon the con-
fdencc of their people. No statesman
and no government could emerge rom
from the conference bearing the ooium
/ of having prevented success, without
Iincurring tho disaster which would fol-
low the dspleasure Of their own pco-
pie. The essence of the coming con-
ference is such that, at tho end OF II.
there must either be assured success
or an alternative so unlikely that II Is
practically impossible to imagine.
| II there is not success. the thing that
will happen at the end OF the confer
ence will be this: President Harding.
who. as the proposer OF the conferences.
has the chief responsibility. will be
under the necessity of saying to the
world that he and the others associ-
ated with him made an effort, in good
faith. to bring about an agreement.
and that this agreement was prevented
/ by some one OF the delegations. What
one of the delegations Is II that would
be willing to take the odium of being
named by President Harding as re-
sponsible for lack of success? The
conference cannot merely break up
with nothing done. 1t Is called for a
specific purpose. II that purpose is
not achieved. the blAme must lie upon
the shoulders of some one delegation,
and tho world will know which delega-
ton was at fault. There is no delega-
? ton nd no government represented at
the conference that could endure such
an odium.
The doubts which hang about the
conference are not doubts as to pur-
. pose or accomplishment. All the
doubts that exist among persons close
to the conference are merely doubts
about methods. The purpose OF the
conference is to bring about reduc-
ton OF present ornaments. and a limi-
taton on future armamcnts. That
this purpose is desirable and must be
achieved is universally held. But In
the methods by which such an agree
ment Is to be expressed, and in the
things which are to 90 carried out in
pursuance Of that agreement. there is
more difficulty than the average per-
son knows. 1t Is easy to say that the
ma tions must agree to reduce their ar
mamcnts; but the fact is that when
tho military and naval experts of the
world put their minds about the pre-
else form for reducing such an agree
ment to writing. they are faced with
technical difficulties which. altho not
insupcrable are nevertheless extremely
battling.
IT can be stated as a fact that the
military and naval experts of our own
nation, as well as those of the other
nations concerned. have been busy for
thrcc months, trying ~ arrive at some
practical formula by which the agree
mpnt to limit armamentB can be car
ried out Tho governments of the other
nations arc as in complete good faith
about this purpose as our own govern"
mcut; but with all the good faith in
L t.x,,.
difficulty in putting into actual figures
and into concrete terms the formula
nf definite acts thru which tho nations
must carry out the purpose.
A formula FOR the reduction of armies
is moro simple to arrive at than n for
mula for the reduction OF navics. But
oven SO, IL contains difficulties which
have not yet been surmountcd. frob-