Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-21
AMBASSADOR HARVEY KILLS
HOPES FOR WORLD LEAGUE
Shows the Administration Drifting To.
ward the Diplomacy that Leads to
EXCLUSIVE Alliances


Exclusive Alliances
TOLONEL HARVEY, as the new Am
~ bnsador of the United States ut the
Court of st. James's, has had his say in
London. Apparently it is the say of Prcsi-
dent Harding and the majority of the Cabi-
net The prospect disclosed with the fiat,
mai and over eloquent rejection of the
only mechanism yet established to deal peace
fully and in realistic fashion with the
conditions that generate war madness is
neither cheerful nor inspiring
If we interpret the new Ambassador
rightly, he means that in the diplomacy oil
the future each nation must look out for
itself, while the devil, following his ancient
custom, takes the hindmost.
This address, in which the Harding Ad-
ministration seems to have spoken its mind
clearly for the first time. accomplished
number of things. 1t closed the great chap
ter of history that began Immediately after
the armisticc. II dispellcd world of doubt
and world Of lingering hopes.
The great structure of human expecta-
tions that grew out of the universal pas
sionatc desires Of the war period and
survived storm after storm of organized
antagonism must fall now or undergo
desolating change. The feeble contacts Of
peoples who have been cropping toward each
other for deliverance from miseries Of pre-
ordained wars-for the desire for peace and
understanding is still in the hearts Of the
people rather than IN the hearts of govern
ments-are interrupted again.
Perhaps it was inevitable. It is possible
to understand the Presidents desire to be
free from the appalling conflicts of selfish
ness and intrigue in Europe. 1t is not
possible clearly to understand the direction
and purposes Of his alternative course.
Explicitly Colonel Harvey has announced
a policy of isolation to be varied in emer-
gencies by American CO. operation with The
English Speaking Peoples of the World.
cooperation for what?
That question still looms above all others
and Colonel Harvey does not answer it.
Clearly reflected in this frank declaration
of the Administration international policy
is n drift of official sentiment toward some
thing like an alliance of the moral and ma
tcrial forces of the United States and Great
Britain in the interest Of world peace ard
mutual safety. Almost at n word France is
virtually isolated. The French do not speak
English.
The suggestion of peaceful world domiua-
tion by the English speaking nations is not
new. For years there have been honest
and able men who see in such a combination
of forces the only possible guarantee of in
tcrnational peace and the free progress Of
democratic ideals and government. And it
is true that the people of the United States
and the people of Great Britain, working
together, could actually make an interna-
tional war impossiblc-for the time being
The Power that dominates the sea will in
evitably win in any foreign war. The com
bned navies of the United States and Great
Britain could easily police all the waters Of
the world until some implement superior to
battleships were devised, when the race of
new ornaments would begin all over again.
= But in making an alliance you automati-
cally invite the suspicion, If not the hatred
Of outsiders. You invite opposition. And
there never vet has been an alliance that
could be made to operate fairly and without
special regard for the interests of the allied
In contemplating some of the meanings of
Colonel Harvey's London address it is neccs-
sary to remember that Russia and Germany
Japan and Asia are still unknown quaint
ties in relation to world affairs of the near
future. What of them and their ambitions :?
What of France? The French and the
British are at odds on Silcsa. The British
are no more anxious than the Germans to
see France acquire q monopoly of virtually
all the raw materials of the mid Continent.
Will the Ambassador of the United States
introduce his policy of co operation with
The English Speaking Peoples when he sits
in at the Silesian conferences as an OBJ
server?
None of the great Powers in Europe is
thinking now of political factors formerly
considered in the plans Of war settlements.
Economic factors alone have weight in their
councils. Doubtless economic factors weigh
also at Washington.
We have progressed far from the time
when Americans, recognizing in war an
affiiction from which all the plain people of
the world had a right to be freed, called
for n system of international relationships
in which all nations should be granted equal
opportunities and the guarantees necessary
to enable them to live in peace.
If ever an alliance of English speaking
peoples Is achieved the world will have
moved little nearer to another conflagra =
tiOn. Who can recall an alliance of race
conscious Powers that did not end in n
smash? And, reading through Colonel Har-
vey's address and discerning the subtlcr
meanings below the too bright surface. what
shall we say to the Americans who live in
deadly fear of "cntanglng European alli-
anccs"? They did their share to force upon
the new Administration n choice of courses
more difficult than any ever put before
a President of the United States. Is the
prospect of co operation with one or more
Powers for war or defense more agreeable
to them than was the prospect of 20 opera :
tion with all nations in the interest of rea-