The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1922-03-18
EUROPE MUST
SETTLE CUT OF
LAND ARMIES
Limitation of Forces Must Be
Settled by European Ma
tions Before America Will
Step in to Help.
IS REMEDY FOR Ills
By MARK SULLIVAN

sponse to the invitation to participate
in the Genoa conference, has been re-
ceiyed almost universally by kind
Of comment which shows that the true
motive of our declination was rot
understood. 1t also shows that the
future American attitude toward Eu
rope is equally misunderstood.
Quite generally the comment that
has attended the incident has taken
for granted that our preferring not TO
participate in the Genoa conference
is an act in the direction of continued
or renewed isolation from European
affairs.
This is not the case. The parents
of the policy which dictated this reply
to the Genoa conference are Secretary
of State Hughes and Secretary OF
Commerce Hoover. Neither of these
men is a believer in isolation on the
part of America from proper degree
OF participation in international of-
fairs.
On the contrary both of them are
so identified with public expressions
of conviction in favor of closer inter
national relations that in the minds OF
the irreconcilables and other isola
tionists, their Republicanism is re-
SdIueu as q llLJle tdlHleu.
Had Little Weight.
Let us consider first a motive which
has been widely ascribed to the ed
Ininistration for its recent action about
Genoa, but which in fact had little
weight in it. It has been said that the
administration hesitated to go to Ge-
noa because acceptance might have
been fuel to the opponents of the rati-
Of fS,r1y- fTno "
1t is a fact that in connection with
the Washington conference, spokes-
men of the administration have re-
peatedly affirmed that that confer
ence should be made completed sue
cess before other conferences should
be held.
Naturally, the Washington confer
ence is not a completed success until
after our senate has acted on it's re-
suits. IT has frequently been said on
he part of the administration, in con-
neetion with the Washington confer
ence. that our policy in regard to re-
storing the world to equilibrium is to
take one definite step at time, and
20 make each step successful before
he next is taken.
Harvey Expresses It
Ambassador Harvey, at London,
once expressed it by saying that the
purpose of the Washington admins
tration was not TO see whether the
nations could agree upon everything
but whether they could agree upon
one thing"
In this. as in so many Republican
utterances about foreign policy. there
was the implication of a back-handed
slap at the league of nations. But in
its essence this expressed the firm in
tention of the administration to dc
one thing at time and to do it we'll
Such q policy on the part of the ad
rpinistratior necessarily involves the
wish that the next conference should
he postponed until after the results
os the present conference are ratified
by our senate.
Did Not Weigh Heavily
Nevertheless, this did not weigh
heavily in the decision not to go tc
Genoa. 1t is true that the first date
set by the promoters of the Genoa
conference. March 10, would have
come right in the midst of the senate
debate on ratification of the four
power treaty.
Many of the actions taken by the
Genoa conference would have beer
appearing in the newspapers on these
days, during which the fourpoWel
treaty is being debated in the senate
Some of these actions would undoubt
edly have been seized upon by the op
ponents of the four-power treaty to In
cite in the American public suspicion
against all forms and degrees of co
operation by the United States in In
ternational matters.
But the postponed date set for th'
Genoa conference, namely, April lu
will come at time when presumabl,
/. The senate debate will have been com
! pleted April 10 as the date for th'
Genoa conference would not embar
rass the administration in this respect
Might Have Consulted
Incidentally it is obvious that th
original promoters of the Genoa cor
ference, when they first launched it Il
January. might have done better
they had consulted America befor
they made their decision and befor
they issued the invitations.
If they had followed the preceden
set by our government in calling tn
Washington conference, they woul
have consulted in advance those VIII
were to be invited both as respect
the date and as respects the subject
10 be taken up.
II is the subjects to be taken up b
the Genoa conference. or more accul
ately, the subjects which the promo
ers of that conference failed to put o
their agenda that has had most to d
with determining the decision of ou
government not to participate.
Agenda Not Pleasing.
The agenda of the Genoa confe
ence did not include the subject {
German reparations. nor the subject c
land disarmament. and it has bee
know for months that the attitude {
America is that there can be no pc
manent economic help for Europe III
I'll these two questions are first Sc
tied right.
The governments and statesmen {
Europe have had abundant opportul
ity to learn that this is the attitud
a Of America.
Until the German reparations al
fixed and accepted by everybody as
definite and Interchangeable future CO..
dition, there can be no certainty abol
Continued on Page Fourteen)