Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-02-23
The Ne1O Diplomacy
- HE sleep Of Talleyrand and Meter
mich must BE disturbed! Bismarck

must rub his eyes, If that is what
they do there; Beaconfield must bemoan a
degenerate age, for the glamour and mystery
Of diplomacy have gone, and men engage IN
diplomatic negotiation not as players with
loaded d.ce but as honorable antagonists"
Thus the chief American correspondent OF
the London Morning Post, Mr.. A. Maurice
Low, sums up his opinion of the Washing
ton conference on limitation of armament.
For years Mr.. Low has resided in the United
States and is counted among the keenest as
well as most cordially appreciative observers
Of this country's affairs W1thal he is
seasoned student of international relations
and tendencies, so that his view is In no wise
that of an unsobered enthusiast. The ma
terial achievements of the Washington con-
ference, he thinks, are great, but far greater
the spirit with which it has imbued dlplo-
macy the spirit of direct dealing and plain
speaking, of goodwill and common helpful
ness. ''The men who sat at the conference
table," says he, "vere hard-headed men OF
affairs with vast experience of human nature
and political antagonisms, but who knew that
craftsmanship is the recognition Of moral
force"
This recognition it was that made the con-
ference successful under the frown Of cir
cumstances peculiarly adverse. Americas re-
lection of the Treaty of Versailles, with her
refusal to cooperate in a League OF Nations,
naturally caused those whom she invited to
this counseling to look with wonderment II
not suspicion upon her motives. They &C
cepted gracefully enough; but more as mat
ter Of policy, one may imagine, than with ex-
pectation of results. In mood OF utmost
caution they came, and not without grave ap-
prehensions. That Japan and the United
States were mutually distrustful; that the
Anglo-Japanese alliance, though eyed askance
in this country, was not likely to be cancelled
save by some larger, more inclusive agree
ment; and that while all felt the sore burden
of vast ornaments, each was fearful or IN
curing disadvantage in the process of re-
duction-all this was manifest as the confer
ence curtain rose. The participants eyed one
another narrowly, and onlOokers felt du-
bious something in the air.
Then came the thunder-clap Of Mr.. Hughes
proposal-and straightway the atmosphere
changed, as if that pent-up something had
been dissolved in fast retreating clouds. To
Mr.. Low Unconditional veteran OF the Fourth
Estate though he is, "the boldness OF those
proposals, the manner in which they were to
be executed, were so astounding as to be al
most unbelieva ble." Dramatic they were, In
a way that struck home to the imagination of
common folk the world around. But under
the surface there was something deeper to
make it's appeal. We who listened to the sec
rotary of State on that day were moved. He
r d violated all the rules Of diplomacy. All
thought of bargaining (mark this), of trading
one point against another, was precluded.
Here was an honest purpose to be accomplish
ed let it be accepted if other nations were
animate the same purpose; if not, let 1t
be rejected. The compromise Of deceit was i'm
possible.
The response to these plain, bold proposals
was worthy of the spirit in which they We're
made. Great Britain, Japan and the others
welcomed the opportunity to discuss over
shadowing problems on basis of fact and
merit, instead of merely playing again the
games of traditional diplomacy. The result?
1t is written large in the actual agreement for
armament reduction, in the Four-Power trea-
ty for peaceful adjustments in the Pacific, and
in other definite, substantial attainments But
more important, though less definable, than
these is the better understanding, the better
temper, the better spirit amongst all these
nations, particularly between America and ia
pan and between the two great households of
English speaking people. This is the good
Hest fruitage of the new methods and motives
that prevailed at the Washington conference,
the new diplomacy which is the despair of the
Talleyrands, but the hope of international
honesty and concord.