Evening star., 1925-01-20
WAR CAUSE TRACED.
TO 10: TRADE Factors.
gEhu.
Desire to Guard Wealth Put
Before Women as Breeder
UizHt
~. of Conflicts.

Economic conditions, the desire to
%fnE~established wealth. and the
fearf That other powers may extend
political control over treasured nat
urSl resources were laid before the
National Conference on the Cause and
Cub. of War today at the Washington
Hogel as among the most fruitful
aJses of international conflict.
Speakers presenting these causes"
10 sthe conference, which will later
he4r. proposed cures" and then en-
desvor to work out a general pro-
gram of action for national women's s
organizations. were John Foster
Dulles, New York lawyer, and former
member of the Reparations Commits
sion and the Supreme Economic
Council, and William Smith Culbert-
son of the United States Tariff Com
mission.
II believe history confirms the
view" said Mr.. Dulles, that the
principal economic cause of war is
not greed for gain, but, rather.
the effort to avoid change and to
maintain existing conditions. War is
due to fear fear for the loss
of property which has been honestly
~acquired and which, with society or
: ganized on a capitalistic basis, it is
lawful to seek to retain"
Struggle Against Change.
Certain classes of men in the develop
meEt Of nations, Mr.. Dulles said, had
come to "a pinnacle of power and in
fiuence," and then found that the same
conditions which brought them to such
positions begin to alter, and these in
dividuals see the source of their
strength and power beginning to shift
from beneath them. Given such stu
OF inc
it and lay hold of whatever means may
be at hand"
Such forces operated in Austro-
Hungary and in Russia, Mr.. Dulles be-
leved. in the case of the World War
The ultimatum to Serbia, the quick
mobilization of Russia" he said, were
natural reactions of governments of
such a character"
Great Britain. according to the
speaker, lis menaced in its general
economic strength by the vast
changes which have been brought by
war" These changes, he explained,
were taking place in the textile and
metallurgical fields, threatening the
principal industries of England.
Views on Egyptian Crisis.
$50 when we see the British gov
ernment," he explained, Including in
its demands upon Egypt the right 10
utilize freely the waters of the Nile
10 irrigate the cotton development of
the Sudan that is but one manifesto
tion of the efforts of the textile in
dustry to ward off danger. Thus
while the demand of Great Britain
upon Egypt is, in a superficial sense.
aggressive and grasping in character,
Yet IN reality the motive behind it is
less the desire to extend and increase
wealth and power than the determi-
nation to maintain an established in
dustry which is seriously menaced"
Mr.. Culbertson, who spoke on Raw
Materials, Markets and War" declared
the raw materials of the world should
be opened to all peoples equally as a
step In removing one of the primary
causes of conflict.
Rivalry among nations or among
national groups frequently gives rise
to serious complications in interna-
tional AFFAIRS" Mr.. Culbertson said.
nation powerful in industry, com
merce, finance and defense would ap-
pear to be secure. But practically this
las not proved true. Evidently per-
manent International security cannot
be sought in temporary expedients
IKE armaments. Rather is there
needed set Of firmly established
principles to regulate the fundamen-
tai economic relations of states. Com
mercial security will be obtained only
by offering similar security and GER
tainty to other states"
Take Up "Cures" Next.
Mrs. L. H. Silverthorn, president of
the Federation of Woman's Boards of
Foreign Missions of North America,
presided at this mornings sessions.
The program this evening will be
given over to an open forum on the
nf 81, 4
half of the conference program. To-
morrow the program will take up the
cures of war. Miss Julia Lathrop will
preside at this evenings session to
open at 8:l5 o'clock.
Gen. Allen Speaks.
Maj Gen. Henry T. Allen, retired,
discussing Americas attitude toward
armament, at last nights meeting,
asserted that mo great state has
evinced keener interest and stronger
desire to see effected general reduc-
tionS of armament and judicial set
Elements of international disputes
than the United States" 1t was his
hope, he said, that after further
study the Geneva protocol for dis
armament might result in a confer
ence in which the United States will
participate to outlaw war, radically
to the peoples of the earth.
Fear and insecurity, stressed fire.
quently by speakers during the day
as a major factor in causing wars,
was again emphasized last night by
James q. Mcdonald, chairman Of the
executive committee Of the Foreign
Policy Association, in an address on
Competition in Armaments." He
attributed Europe's piling up of
ornaments TO an 'all- prevailing
fear" lack of which in the United
States explained the difference in
policy. Only through such organfza-
tion as the League of Nations, he as
serted, can there be hope that war
will be averted."
Urges Birth Control.
Equalization of population pres
vocated by Prof. Warren THOMPSON
of Miami University oxford, Ohio.
He also urged abolition of all barriers
that prevent free access to the
worlds resources, of all customs bars
and of those against migration. Birth
control, he said, is no more immoral
than war and we have to choose
between them" since overpopulation
is a contributory cause of war.
Pierrepont Noyes, Oneida, N Y
business man and former commits
sioner on the Rhine, described fear
of another mans fear" as a new pas
sion that has arisen to be dealt with
in peace program. Prof. Edward
NJ. Earle of Columbia University also
addressed the conference last night
on imperialism, Territorial and
Economic"