Evening star., 1924-04-08
FOREIGN POLICIES
MAY Be 1924 ISSUE
Peppers Move for ParIey
Brings Question Into Po-
liticaI Picture Again.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.


! Foreign affairs. the world court and
the league of nations-heretofore
crowded off the stage by Teapot Dome
and other domestic disturbances iu
| the realm of party politics-may get
back into the drama of the 1924 cam
| paign.
The resolution of Senator Pepper
of Pennsylvania, republican. calling
upon the President to summon q
world conference similar to TA@
Hague conference of 1907 and pre-.
vious years, has precipitated a de-
bate in the Senate of no casual im-
portance. The republican leadership
did not connive with Mr.. Pepper to
bring up the subject Of world court
with it's collateral question of league
| of nations parenthood.
Only few days ago Senator Robin
son, the democratic leader, accused
Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, republi-
can leader, with having pigeonholed
| the International court proposal sub
! mittcd to the Senate by the late
President Harding and Secretary
Hughes. and indorsed by President
! Coolidge as the only practicable plan
! at present before the world. II had
been hoped by republican leaders that
! the world court plan might slumber
! in committee at least until after the
campaign
Whole Issue Revived. I,
| But Mr. Pepper has revived the
whole problem of foreign policy.
| There is no doubt that while his move
was criticized as indiscreet and with
! out the authority of the republican,
/ leadership, it does represent an effort
! on the part of the Pennsylvania sen
J ator to answer the criticism that the
| republican party, having pledged
! itself to an association of nations il
| 1920, did nothing about it. Even
! though it might keep peace inside
| the republican family to forget this.
! the democrats had no intention OF
ignoring the issue and are preparing
to accuse their republican brethren
of failure to fulfill pledges.
| To the friends OF international CO
operation any sort of conference
" tich takes America out Of her isola-
! tion and brings her into conference
officially with the other powers of
! the world is looked upon as hopeful.
! The Hague conferences contained q.
I COue OI lnleTIldIIOHdi DeItdfiOI.
ed in effectiveness, but far more ad-
| vanced than the views of the isola-
| tionists, who oppose agreements OF
all kinds with the other governments
of tie world.
| VIII Win Democratic Aid.
| The democrats probably will sup
port Mr.. Peppers move, largely be-
cause they know it will mean en-
ibarrassment within the ranks of the
REPUBLICAN party, and anything which
lean be done to split the republican
iparty still more is democratic STRAIT
tegy, just as it was republican tao
tics in the league of nations fight.
The Coolidge administration has
had other plans. Awaiting the report
of the Dawes Young advisory com
! mission. the hope has been expressed
iby officials that rehabilitation of
the European economic situation
would be followed by an era of po-
litical stability and that international
conferences must await settlement
direct agreement between the inter
ieSted powers. =
| Another conference to limit arrna :
ment. especially that of submarines
and aircrafti was proposed as part
of the naval appropriation bill In the
House recently, but the President,
while in sympathy with the purpose
of the measure, did not feel anything
could be accomplished on reduction
of armament until the deeper ques-
tions involved in the economic and
political relationships of European
countries to each other were ad-
juSted
The summoning of an international
conference would, of course, If IL
lied to a successful meeting Hike the
Washington arms pacts of 1921, help
the prestige of the Coolidge, admin
listration. but the chances are that
all proposals, including that of Sena-
tor Pepper. will be held in abeyance
until after the national conventions
in June. There is no republican de-
sire here to hand Hiram johnson
an issue on a silver platter.
Copyright. 1924