Evening star., 1925-01-05
Why an Economic Conference ?


Without Questioning the good inten-
lions which animate Senate Borah in
ms proposal for an international eco
nomlc and disarmament conference. it
may be possible without offending to
inquire as to what the distinguished
chairman of the foreign relations com
mlttee would expect to be accom-
pushed by such a gathering, and how.
Altruistic impulses always are TO be
commended, and if wishing could
make the world prosperous and happy
misery would vanish overnight But
the American people have so often
seen 1t demonstrated that the worlds
notion OF altruism is to let America
pay that they have become disposed
10 ask for specifications when some
one comes along with a new project
for correcting all the evils that came
In the wake of war
In the first place. Why an eco
nomic conference? Economics and
armaments are not twin questions
They are. in fact, only remotely re-
lated. If economics governed arma-
ments Europe would not be armed to-
day. And the United States might
well be armed to the teeth. Politics
is the twin of armaments, and any
conference which brought about dis
armament in Europe would have to
be political conference. The Wash
ington conference which brought
about limitation of naval ornaments
was a political conference, pure and
simple, and the engagements entered
into by it which made Limitation of
armaments possible were political en-
gagements. The economic benefits
which flowed from it We're incidental
by-products.
Is Senator Borah willing the United
States should enter into political en-
gagements with the European powers,
Germany and Russia, as well as our
associates in the late war, which
would be of consequence sufficient to
induce France and Poland and the
little entente to disband their armies?
Would he vote to ratify such engage
ments if they were submitted to the
Senate? If so, he has changed his
views since Woodrow Wilson brought
back from Paris the proposal that the
United States should go joint guar
antor with England for the security
of France.
And if the United States is not pre-
pared to enter into such political en-
gagements, what would we have to
offer when we took our place at the
conference table and proposed that
the European nations disband their
armies? Good advice, perhaps; but we
have deluged Europe with good ad-
vice, and thereby have succeeded
chiefly in getting ourselves heartily
disliked.
There is; in fact. Just one substan-
tial thing we could take into such
conference for the purpose of trading,
and if we refused to take that one
thing in with US and to trade with it
Europe would have a hard time under
standing why we came at all. Refer
Government by the governments of
Europe. In an advance announcement
of Senator Borah's intention to pro-
pose such a conference is to be read:
Proponents of an international eco
nomic and disarmament conference
are inclined to regard the war debts
as particularly strong lever to bring
about agreements for the reduction
of armaments."
There are just two ways the war
debts could be used to bring about re-
duction of ornaments, by coercion
through threats or by purchase
through cancellation. 1t is hardly
conceivable that Senator Borah in
tends we should go into a conference
with u threat of drastic collection
methods if Europe did not disarm
Therefore, he must intend that we
should purchase disarmament by debt
concessions, cancellation, reduction or
otherwise. If that is his program it is
as unstable as the stuff of dreams No
European nation has one soldier un-
der arms today because it owes money
to the United States. Not one of the
''perils'' which keep Europe armed
would be removed if every cent of the
s12 1000, 600 O00-debt to America was
wiped out The American debt has
not caused any nation TO arm and 1t
has not prevented any nations from
arfning, even those which profess in
ability to pay one penny on their
debts. The debt owed America has no
relationship TO armaments in Europe.
If this is all Senator Borah has to
offer, the only result of his conference
proposal will be to embarrass his Gov
ernment in its efforts to have the
European debt funded and to impede
more practical ways of bringing about
O. reduction of European armaments.
National Tree Plantation.