The Washington herald., 1921-11-10
JAPANESE HOLD
THREADLEADING
OUT FROM MAZE
They, Rather Than Brit
ish, Control Success,
Says Steed.
BY wICKHAM sTEED.
Editor Of the London Times

CPsbHc.tiOa In United States copyrighted.
lsal, by United Nswr)
cited in my previous article the
opinion Of an eminent American
who said, we are treading through
. maie in q fog"
In the current number OF the Al
lantic Monthly, Walter Pftkin. au-
thor Of q work which has attracted
much attention. Must We Fight
Japan" thus describes the maze:
The conference faces six OBJ
staclss OF the first magnitude-and
heaven only knows how many lesser
hindrances. By all odds. the great
est Is chaos in China. Next ranks
chaos in Russia. coupled with Rus
sia's absence from the arms parley.
Third is the profound dilemma in
Jspan's national policy. Fourth is
a similar one in our own policy,
and both dilemmas are aggravated
by the lessons of the world war.
Fifth is the still unbroken power
Of the militarist party in Japan.
And sixth is the sheer physical inn
Possibility OF devising a disarma-
ment program that will AFFECT
equally or equitably all partid-
pants. Probably no one Of these
obstacles would sufice to thwart
the conference. The menace lies in
all six working in conjunction and
reinforced by a host OF lesser din
culties, economic, political and So
cial' the whole tangle involving
hundreds Of millions of human be-
ings. thousands Of. millions OF
money. a hundred theories and a
hundred aspirations and prejudices
Of race and creed"
Quite Some Maae.
AS mazes go. this Is a quite re-
spectacle maze. The fog that en-
shrouds it is also a respectable fog.
To begin at the end. there is a
question whether the United States
Senate. with the support of a con-
siderable body of American feeling,
may not decline to ratify any bind
ing agreement into which the ad-
ministration may enter at the con-
clusion of the conference, suppos-
ing that the conference reaches a
conclusion at all With the fate of
the Versailles treaty fresh in the
remembrance Of the deIegates Of
other countries, they naturally ap-
pend a large note of Interrogation
to any forecasts on this score.
Senator Borah and his "fnKrow-
ing colleagues OF the Senate-the
expression applies to Americans
who would have their country
grow in upon itself instead OF
growing outward toward interna-
tional co-operation-procl with
the utmost earnestness to all VIM
care to hear, that they will! smash
or, otherwise procure rejection of
any binding pact to which the
Harding administration may sub
scribe. II this be regarded as a
minor element of uncertsinty-see-
ing that the Senate would assured
1y have ratified the Versailles
treaty and the covenant Of the
league with Senator Lodges reser-
vations had President Wilson been
less unyielding-there are enough
major elements to encourage seek
ers after scepticism.
"Whnt Is ChInaf-
The first such element is China.
On the very portals OF the con-
ference the question. What is
China?"-is writ large. and no man
can answer IL. Views as to what
China might be or ought to be
are plentiful as autumn leaves, but
none fits the realities or avaIls to
correct the disquieting prospect re-
Vealed by default Of the Chinese
American loan last week. Chinese
financial commitments are a maze
within n mana ana q TO- ,-f1hg-
fog.
Moreover. the claims Of Japan as
creditor OF China complicate the
situation In q dozen ways and
bring into the foreground the
whole question OF japanese inten-
tions. Does Japan mean to pene-
trate China economically as Ger
many once penetrated the Ottoman
empire, or can Japan be induced to
work with the other Pacific powers
to put China on her feet again
and endow her with some form Of
stable government Of recognized
general authority? No man knows
The further question arises as
to whether the attitude Of Japan