The Washington herald., 1922-02-16

velopment il is about as far as nation dare to
commit itself. But the goal is the general accept
ance of the impossibility of warning, oneself Dis
srmament'of material sort Is bene6cent, but the
basis Of a permanent world security is moral dis
armament. The establishment of friendship. of an
acceptance of the brothery relationship throughout
the world, will be the best protection for all ma
tons.
Herbert Bailey writing in the Outlook, of Lon
don for January IA, considers the question OF the
moral disarmament of Germany. His article begins
with statement OF Frances fear of Germanys
planning war of revenge and Of Frances demands
for security with which Americans were made ia
miliar by the Washington conference. Mr., Bailey
then takes up the question Of Germany's disarma-
ment, saying that "the supreme test OF Germany $
appeal for trust lies in her willingness to assist in
her own disarmament His article then continues:
The Englshman, however, who visits Ger
many determined to discover whether Germany
is sincere in her professions of peace towards
her neghbor or assembling her desire for re-
vengc and obstructng her disarmament so that
she might be well prepared when an oppor-
tunity for invading France once more arises,
finds that this disarmament divides itself into
two distinct yet interdependent elements The
one is material, the other moral To insure the
material disarmament of Germany is the task
assigned to an allied commission with its head,
quarters at Berlin, of which the French General
Nollet is the directing chief. To encourage the
moral disarmament is the duty Of constructive
and far-seeing craftsmanship.
Mr.. Bailey then proceeds to tell of the dis
covery that, in the summer of 1920. the Krupp
plant was still making guns contrary to the treaty,
and was, for time, sklfully preventing discovery
of the fact, only to be detected later. He men,
tions that British officers found the French inclined
to exaggerate the number OF Germans in surviving
military organizations. Then he tells of the mil
t;oas of -. Il ode of
and acres of munition plant" which have been de-
stroyed under allied direction. Mr. Bailey then
mentions the possibility of chemical warfare and
the impossibility of preventing country from de-
veloping plants producing gases for civil purposes
which would make that country truly formidable in
time Of war This brings i'm back to the ques-
tion of moral disarmament:l
There is, indeed, only one disarmament of
any value-rnoral disarmament. Is the process
OF neral disarmament progressing in Germany?
This is question infinitely more important than
its Complementary question, Is Germany dis
arming now? Now, no man who moves among
the German people, who listens attentively in
trains and tramway cars to the conversations
of Germans, who talks with the German work
ers, and particularly with those who served in
the war, can arrive at any other conclusion than
that moral disarmament has made great prog
ress in Germany and, perhaps, even greater
progress than in the entente countries proud
of their pacific inclinations. The failure Of the
German general staff after its repeated prom
ises of victory was certain to cripple German
militarism, for the German has little respect for
the man who fails. His gods successful
gods. No German officer dare strut and swag-
ger in the streets and restaurants of the cities
of Germany now he was accustomed to do
before the He now makes himself as in
conspicuous possible, and behaves with
of humiliation and abject apology for
daring to wear a uniform that is far more in
dicative of the and very disillusioned Ger
many that has emerged from out Of the old
than all the pacific assurances OF German states
Not even the sacred reverence for discipline
so securely implanted in the German minds by
tradition and education will avail any German
statesman who lightly embarks upon a Of
revenge. The fact too. that German workmen
have communicated with the allied commissions
disarming Germany is a striking revelation OF
how far moral disarmament has progressed.
But what is probably the greatest force in the
moral disarmament of Germany is to be found
in the new sense of humor and the new appre-
citation of the ridiculous that has been acquired
by the Germans when they view the shattered
niilitarism they worshpped so ardently yester-
day. Wherever one travels in Germany one
overhears tales told without protest of how
soldiers insulted their officers on the return
from France. The men appeared to find glee-
full delight in depicting the plight of those who
before the war were the objects OF such emu
lative admiration
Other observers in Germany will bear out the
main contention of Mr. Baileys article, that is, that
the of the German people have developed a
desire for peace and an opposition for war II
must not be forgotten however, that there is still
a considerable element who yearn for the times
and the system that gone. That element would
restore those times and that system if it could 1t
cannot as long the liberal elements are in con-
troll in Germany.
We are inclined to agree with Mr.. Bailey that
if the German people can have their way they will
have no more wars. They have developed new
international attitude, a sense of values.
When a man hasn't got anything else to do