The Washington herald., 1922-01-01

i confess some OF the Irish lead
ers have put a severe strain upon
English good will. which was almost
unanimous. 1t is not only a ques-
ton of relations between England
and Ireland which has been raised
by their irreconcilable attitude, but
IL makes one inclined TO despair of
all human nature and the progress
Of human society. For IL the Irish
people were actually to refuse the
British offer OF peace and good will,
and actually stood out against any
association on equal terms with a
federation OF British peoples. pre-
ferring war for a phrase, for peace
with real self government. and
hatred to friendship. whatever hap
pens. then IL Is useless for all Of us
TO expect any improvement in the
relation between other nations and
all great efforts like the Washing
ton conference. all attempts to es-
tablish a world court OF justice or
international councils of peace will
60 down before primitive passion
and racial vendetta.
Compares De vsIer. to Lenin-
Ireland is one test whether this
new year will begin that era Of
human reason OF which we see a
sign and a chance. have been
wholeheartly and emotionally on
the side of the Irish in their desire
for seH-government in spite OF
their methods OF warfare which ]
loathed: but ! see nothing but
pedantic stupidity in such leadership
as that OF De Valera, and fanaticism
which I can only compare with that
of Lenin. who, for the sake of an
abstract ideal. Incompatible with
human nature ITSELF. was ruthless of
human life aFo all agony. Indeed.
Lenin shower himself more of a
realist ths9TDe Valera, for seeing at
last compsete and. ghastly failure
for his tseory' he has now abandon
ed Copemunism and announced his
retrse5 from that system with
brutal candor.
yHow at this season Of the year.
this ChristmastIde dedicated TO the
spirit OF peace and at this time in
the worlds history. when we must
have peace or perish. men like De
Valera, who Is not without nobility
and faith. can reject a fair offer Of
cancellation and equal partnership
with Britain is sad mystery
Nevertheless, / believe that what
over happens TO delay this settle
ment, il is to go through as one OF
the promises of this new year.
Conference Second Propise.
The next great promise is the Sc
cret OF Washington. The first re-
suits of the Washington conference
have been splendid: have already
postponed, IL not entirely destroyed
one great menace of war. besides re-
lieving millions OF working folk
from new burdens Of taxation which
would crush them under a frightful
competition in naval ornaments
But like most people meet / can
not believe that this first step in
world reconstruction will not be fol-
lowed by other steps equally i'm
portant and desperately necessary
to our general recovery. That is the
| really big chance of the new year,
second step in the direction of
land disarmament and a new pact
Of peace among the nations, pre-
| coded and indeed governed by eco
nomic decisions.
It is now clear to most thinking
minds that great armies and navies
are maintained not for purpose of
pomp and glory, as In the old days.
but mainly as insurance against wars.
reasonable, OF racial rivalry In com
mercial and Industrial supremacy. or.
In q more primitive way, OF losing
the means Of nautical existence.
These fears govern all political argu-
ments, even those Of the United
States. who have less to fear than
most other nations OF the world at
the present time. II is. to be quite
frank, the fear OF being cut OF from
the vital needs Of national life that
was behind all the Arguments OF
the British Representatives at wash
ington on the subject Of submarines.
Britain 10 not self-supporting. II
our trade routes were cut, every
Englishman. Welshman, Scot, would
starve to death after three months.
The German U-boat war was IN
successful: as II was II did enormous
damage to our merchandise ard put
our home folk on short rations. It
is therefore reasonable and natural
that we should propose total aboli-
ton Of submarine warfare.
On the other hand. the French,
having no great feet but the North
African colonies, which they propose
to use as a recruiting ground for
black troops, see that their best
weapon OF defence as well as offence,
Is the submarine. They have no
aggressive intentions, but they can
not put out of their minds as yet
the possibility that their national
existence may be threatened again
by Germany in combination with Rus
STA or that they will have to put
military pressure on Germany to
avoid their own bankruptcy in case
Of a German default In that case.
Great Britain might not be willing
to support them, and IN that case their
submarines would be very useful
Case Stated Brutally.
There is something brutal In stat
ing the case so clearly. but people
who are trying to avoid world calami-
ties must be brutal In their investiga-
ton of the causes of calamity.
Russia. for instance, has a stand
ing army OF 100000 men or
whereabouts, with 100000 more
in reserve. Nothing would please
the Russian rulers better than to de.
mobilize those men. But they are
afraid Of the Polish army Of 500. 900.
and afraid Of revolt and anarchy
from within trhe Poles keep their
army N bsiu0 for the same reason.