The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1922-01-29

Of France since the armistice, Il
will have been worth sn. II cost
France has held mp the pence Of
Europe, delayed Its reconstruction.
iessened her own chances Of re-
Larations, alienated her best friends
By her persistent militarism Go
back to the peace treaty Of 1918
when disarmament was one Of the
fundamental principles adopted by
the allied nationa From the start
Frances argument In regard to dis
armament was that for her II was
impossible unless England and the
United States would guarantee her
against unprovoked aggression
from Germany-if. they would do
that she would disarm- In order to
get Disarmament MI. Wilson, and
Lloyd George agreed, to. protect
France against unprovoked attacks.
Our Senate refused to ratify the
agreement
Having no guarantees, France
kept her arms. Keeping her arms.
the military spirit spread the mtli-
tary group. grew. stronger. How
strong recent events. have shown.
Scrap Third Of Agenaa. 80
one-third of the agenda Of the
Washington conference.-the In re-
gard to land disarmament---had to
be scrapped ten days after the OPEN
ing; because a reduction of land
armament still meant to France "a
guarantee. the same kind Of q guar
antee In principle that little later
we gave 70 Japan In order to make
IL possible for her to agree with
Great Britain and ourselves on the
naval program. Perhaps the great
est achievement Of the conference
on the limitation Of armament is its
demonstration that disarmament
means q union of the nations that
disarm. that IN no other way the
world being what 1t Is, can II be ac-
complished
Along with this demonstration
has gone another. frequently re-
peated. that this union to which you
are to pin your faith instead Of
ships and armies. II It Is to be per-
manent must be all-inclusive.
Again and again the conference
ran up against the difiiculty that al
though all the nations represented
in Washington might make agree
ments To cut down their capital
ships. limit their auxiliary craft to
10000 tons and their guns to eight
inches, put the mark of pirate on =
submarine that attacked q merchant
vessel, forbid chemical warfare,
limit the number Of air craft ships
any one or all Of these restric-
lions might overnight be frustrated
by one nation or q group of nations
outside of the alliance. entering on
paign of naval construction. That
Is. this fine program for the limita-
ton Of armament-almost certain to
be carried out IL the four-power
pact In regard to the waters Of the
Pacific and the nine-power pact IN
regard to the protection of China
ments-still may be destroyed over
night by some part of the world not
included in this union for peace. So
obvious IL this that the naval pact
includes an agreement that In case
any one of the signing nations finds
itself In a dangerous position in re-
gard to an aggressive neighbor. that
IL shall have the right to withdraw.
Every step that has been taken in
the Washington. conference led in
evftably to the conclusion that Il
was all or none-if the work was
to stand.
Doubt Unisa Practicable.
The dinculty In the way of most
people and most nations accepting
this conclusion Is that they do not
believe any such union Of nations
practicable. They cannot see men
of all races working together, set
Ting only by agreement the mis-
understandings that Inevitably come
up. = =. -
II the conference on the Limitation
Of armament has demonstrated the
necessity of world cooperation II
We are to have peace, 1t has also
demonstrated Its practicabiiity. Mr..
hughes started on by calling on the
Two nations which the people Of
this country have for q long time
regarded with the most suspicion
the TWO nations against which we
nave conducted a persistent cam
paisn OF Ill will-Engiand and ia
pan. Yet for three months the dele
cations OF these two nations have
worked with ours in the utmost
trfendiiness- Again and again I
nave heard Mr.. Hughes declare that
NOBODY could have been more CO.
operative, as he expressed Il, than
the delegates from England and IA
pan. II has been obvious that those
countries were quite as eager as
ourselves to work out Agreements
That would enable them to declare
naval holiday. All those initial
suspicious that we had of England
and Japan and that England and Ia
pan had Of US have not prevented the
delegates of the three countries
from coming to conclusions on mat
ters In which at many points they
ainered. What IL SENS to prove Is
tnat you can get peace by friendly
negotiation. that q cooperation OF
nations Is not dream, that Il is a
reality. .--
Direct Action Elective.
How reasonable II IL that IL
should be so. 1t il a direct attack
on a dimcult, not a roundabout one
oy correspondence through ambas-
saoors- Face to face you examine
me basis Of suspicion You ask, Ii
tnis true or not? Are you doing
so-and-so or not? Do You aim to
DO so-and-so? Thus the actual sit
uation not the imagined one II ar
rived 1t. 1t becomes the actual
property OF a group of negotiators,
sitting At the same table. and when
the actuality Is before them all,
being turned over and examined by
them all. adjustment 10 almost GER
tain II there is good will. And here
you come to the crux of the whole
matter-you get no adjustment un-
less the negotiators are working
In n sptrit of 1ooa viii