Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1921-09-30
i. s. CONFE:REES
ARE ANNOUNCED
HUGHES, LODGE, UNDERWOOD
AND ROOT SELECTED BY
PRESIDENT HARDING.
NO COUGHING OF THE VISITORS
Steps Already Taken to Prevent
Profiteering in the capital-Far
East Questions Likely to Precede
Armament Discussion.
BY EDWARD 3. CLARK.

BY EDWARD B. CLARK.
Westinghouse has been announced
by President Harding that the Ameri-
can members of the Forthcoming con-
ference on limitation of ornaments
and Far East problems will be
Charles Evans Hughes, secretary of
state, Republican; Henry Cabot Lodge,
United States senator from Massa-
chusetts and chairman of the senate
committee on foreign relations, Re-
publican; Elihu Root, former secretary
Of state and one time senator from
New York, Republican, and Oscar W..
Underwood, senior United States
senator from Alabama, Democrat.
Recently is was declared that the
Washington officials felt the confer
ence would not be so long drawn out
as at first it was believed must be the
case. In fact, one or two of the
officials have said that they believe
agreements we'll can be reached with
in a limit of three months. There
has been change in this feeling
within few days. 1t is now thought
to be certain that the conference will
go well into the spring and that per-
haps early summer still may see the
conferees at work
President Harding and Secretary Of
State Hughes have found it necessary
to call attention to a matter which
already has been discussed by the
present writer. The necessity Of
brevity in newspaper headlines has
caused the coming conference fire.
quenly to be called disarmament con-
ference. The President and the secre-
tary of state desire particularly that
the country should know that it is
nothing of the kind, but is a confer
ence called to discuss and to agree
on "limitation Of ornaments
Visitors Not TO Be Gouged.
Washington has been much upset
by the stories which have gone abroad
of the intended gouging by local land
lords and local merchants of the
foreign visitors and the vast throng
of American visitors who will be here
during the conference. The real
estate board has taken up the matter
and the various commercial bodies
here also have taken it up. 1t is now
declared that there will be no profit
eering in Washington while the
visitors are here, and that any attempt
at it properly will be checked and
that if any one succeeds in the actual
act Of gouging, and it can be proved,
he will be promptly and properly pun
ished
1t took only one known instance to
start the crusade against protiteer-
ing in the capital. The representa-
tives of one foreign embassy found a
house which they knew would be
suited to the purposes of their con-
ference delegation. They asked the
owner of the house what rent he would
ask for it for period of six months.
He promptly said that he would give
it over for $1,000 a month. This
meant that the rental would be $4,000
for the six months.
The house actually is worth only
DlO,OUO. 30 1t O61II DC SCCl that lAlC
renters in six months would have paid
about $4,000 more than the value of
the property. This matter was
brought to the attention of the State
department, and the owner of the
property in question will continue to
occupy it himself. This proved in
stance of attempted profteering has
been of service, for it has forced a
campaign here which will stop like
things in the future.
The questions of limiting ornaments
and of solving Far East problems
first will be taken up in the confer
ence, because until they are settled
it will be almost impossible to take
any action along lines of armament
limitation
Far East Problems.
There are conditions in the Far
East which might make for war.
China looms large as a perpleXing sub
iect: so does Siberia, and so do some
of the islands of the seas. What are
called spheres of influence must be
COIlSlQCICu, lidAIOctlCp uIiQNI lily
League of Nations must be considered,
and many other things must come in
the category Of necessary considera-
ton.
When all these things are fixed, and
the conferees agree, the matter Of
navies probably will be taken up. The
countries chiefly interested today in
navy limitations are the United
States, Great Britain and Japan, al
though of course italy and France are
to some extent interested.
AS the country already knows,
probably pretty definitely, the question
of how big an army each nation may
keep for defensive purposes will form
one of the chief matters of discus
sion. 1t is pretty fair prediction
that when the conference is over it
will be found that France will be al
lowed to retain larger force Of sol
diers than is any other country.
France fears future aggression from
the East.
No Preliminary Conferences.
Secretary of State Hughes is stand
ing by his original word that the
United States will not give it's sanction
kESI1 CT