Evening star., 1923-10-13
j. S.-bR|T|SH UNITY
HASFR|ENDLy EAR
Presidents Official Cog.
nizance of Lloyd George
Suggestion Unnecessary.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Although President Coolidge can
suggestion of former Prime Minister
Lloyd George that by an unwritten
understanding the United States and
Great Britain in combination could
prevent any big war. the fact of the
matter is no official cognizance is
needed to put into effect plan which
for years has been unsuccessfully
agitated by the champions of Anglo
American cooperation.
What the former head of the Brit
ish government wants is a diplomatic
entente--a friendly partnership of
the two great English peaking ma
tions. There has, however, been no
barrier against the formation of such
an understanding heretofore except
the Irish question, and when that has
not been a sore spot there have been
other sources of friction between the
United States and Great Britain. 1t
is true these points of conflict have
arisen over commercial ambitions.
but the records of the Department OF
State are full of complaints against
British diplomacy in various parts OF
the world, particularly South Amer
lea. The European custom OF linking
up governmental influence and power
to the explorations by private Brit
ish capitalists of the resources of
various countries means an aggreS-
sive diplomacy from London which
has frequently been disappointment
to Americans who have expected a
policy of equality of treatment and
the so-called open door" in COM
merce.
Equality I'm Treatment.
The United States has never in
sisted upon preferential treatment in
the western hemisphere, where COM
questions have been involved,
but it is a fact that the Washington
government has had hard time
arguing for equality of treatment in
regions where the influence of Great
Britain is dominant. The long drawn
out controversy over equal oil rights
In the near east found America
ranged against Great Britain. Even
though the Royal Dutch Shell Com
pany was operating under grants
from the Netherlands government, the
British were behind much of the op-
position to American interests. Simi
larly there are some chapters In the
over the extension of an
cable through Portuguese
Islands in the Atlantic which in
volved British diplomatic influence in
Portugal.
All these instances merely make the
side of the Washington
more than ever anxious
TO get a better understanding with
the British foreign office, and the hint
thrown out by Mr.. Lloyd George
doesn't need any more official cog
an occasion in world affairs Ameri-
can and British diplomacy have stood
side by side. and the only reason
they have not done so more often
has been q divergence of interests
the American government preferring
to remain aloof from certain prob
lens in which Great Britain and other
European powers had a more direct
interest.
Pooling of Strength.
If Mr.. Lloyd George means a pool
ing of physical strength, he, Of course,
has in mind only a great emergency
such as the late war, when the Brit
ish and American nayieS worked as
a single unit in European waters.
But even in the ordinary times the
British form of government permits a
sending of q fleet for naval demon
stration. which can be followed up
instantly by landing of marines and
troops, while authority for every ac
tion must be sought in the case of
the United States from both houses
of Congress, a circumstance which
inhibits America from making a
treaty that is not likely to be sane
toned by American opinion. Most of
the questions that lead to war in Eu-
rope are much better known to the
British public than to America. What
Mr.. Lloyd George has suggested is
an objective to which few in the
Washington government would take
exception provided British and Amer
lean diplomacy had common interests
in all parts of the world. But the
value of the suggestion has not been
lost and probably will often be re-
ferred to in diplomatic conversations
in the future as 1t has in the past,
particularly when Great Britain and
the United States have seemed to be
opposing each other in matters on
which unity of action would be better
for both.
Copyright, 1921