New Ulm review., 1922-01-25
DISARMAMENT CONFER
ENCE "BARTERTNG"
Il CONVENTIONS y -
CONTINUED from page ~

Will, nevertheless, be practlcally lIn-
mune from submarine attack, because
they will still be merchantmen y
Obviously, a very advantageous sub
stitute for her original proposition -.
France, with her short coastline, and
the necessity of waging her future wars
by crippling the food supplies and
destroying the shipping facilities OF
her adversaries, demanded and OBJ
tanned the preservation of the SUBJ
marine. She also agreed to the Root
rules, but with the frank reservation
that she would define merchant
ships to suit herself. That is to say,
that these limitations do not apply to
armed merchantmen nor vessels carry
ing arms, ammunition, or contraband
Of war. sr..
Italy has taken the same position as
France, so that, should the question
arise, as it surely will, they will have
one another's moral support. Xxx J.
Japan, whose price was. the non
interference with her plans for exploit
ing China and Siberia, has successfully
sidetracked any real intervention, and,
together with France, has prevented
an investigation of the charges sub
mitted by the Far East Republic to
the effect that France and Japan have
already entered into a comprehensive
agreement to- subiugate Russia and
divide the spoils in Siberia and China;
a course of action admitted to- be
antagonistic to the purposes Of the
Conference and the interests OF the
other nations participating therein.
China, who has perhaps, the most
cogent cause of complaint, and who
only demanded justice and fair treat
ment, has been consistently snubbed,
and her delegates leave with their
faith destroyed, their confidence
shattered, and the firm belief that
their helplessness instead of germinat-
ing a spirit of fellowship among the
nations has only aroused increased
cupidity.
Belgium, Portugal and the Neither
lands were added to the Conference
for sympathetic reasons. Their func-
ton was to vote "me too." They did
so. Can any one blame them?
The American people wanted dis
armament as means to universal
peace. We didn't get it, nor any
thing that approaches our ideals. j
What we did get was a "balance-of-
power alliance by which we become
accessories with Great Britain, France
and Japan to whatever they under
take, not simply, in the Far East but
anywhere in the world. Z
There may be an honest difference
of opinion between those who advo-
cate League of Nations, as compared
to our standing alone, but a balance
of-power agreement, be it Triple
Alliance or a Quadruple Alliance, is the
precursor of war and is the one thing
Leaguers, as we'll as Anti-Leaguers,
have sought to avoid. =:
It has been said: 'They have
abolished poison gas" On the con
trary, they have specifically agreed to
keep all their equipment for manu-
featuring poison gas ready for instant
use. They have only agreed not to
use it, unless war is declared and some
one else uses it first, which invariably
happens. 1t has been further agreed
that the use of airplanes cannot be re-
stricted. %t:
So, to sum up, submarines, poison
gas and aircraft, admittedly the most
destructive agencies Of modern war
fare, have been officially permitted.
America has been specifically pledg-
ed to Quadruple Alliance, ,by which
she has become an endorser and ac-
cessoryc before and, after the fact to
whatever exploitations England,
France and Japan have already agreed
upon or upon which they; may here
after embark. Behind this Alliance
looms up the ominous fact that each
nation, according to it's own peculiar
requirements, has specialized it's en-
gines of war and is iequipping itself to-
wage war, when the emergency arises
more efficiently than ever before.
And against these liabilities, what
are our assets? The scrapping of a.
few obsolete battleships, 50 that the
money thus saved may be used in
other directions. -. ..- ;, -. So. .s... -.. ..
Under existing conditions, no other,
result could have been expected. 81
So long as the Wall Street Banking
Group, with it's tight control of our
domestic affairs and its imperialistic
investments in foreign countries, re-
tain their strangle-hold, disarmam ament.
is impossible aas
The machinery Of both the Demo
cratic and Republican Parties, which
the same Wall Street bankers als6 Con-
troll, and for which they. supplNE thes
fuel, must necessarily do their bidding.
Their power cannot be broken. The
profit cannot be taken out of war