Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-03

the preparation Of an agenda for a
later conference to consider Limitation
OF ornaments, must open again the
consideration on this side of the At
lantic Of a whole variety of European
and international questions which
have more or less disappeared from
attention since the collapse of the
League of Nations struggle.
IL Is true that agreement between
the President and the Senate has rath-
er sharply limited the extent of our
participation. or rather the extent to
which participation might commit us
to later responsibilities. We are pre-
pared to discuss the subject of anna
! ments, to consider the extension Of the
agreements made at Washington for
limitation of naval force, to examine
the broad field which concerns the
forms of weapons used in war.
On the other hand, we are not ready
| to consider the possibility Of limiting
our military strength, for the simple
reason that It is now SO small that
there is no conceivable chance that
other nations will bring their armed
| forces down to our level. Our army
| Is not g. factor in the military calcula
lions OF Europe and we are not pre-
pared TO agree that If any nation con
sents in the forthcoming conference
to reduce its army, we will expand
our liabilities by pledging ourselves to
come to Its aid if II is attacked.
Insists on Distinction.
Broadly speaking, the Coolidge ad-
ministration has made the very OBJ
vious and wholly proper distinction be-
tween the discussions which may lead
to specific physical results, such, for
example, as the possible exclusion of
gas as a weapon in war, and the pat
emily political results which might
take the line Of the Locarno pact and
engage nations to defend each other
II any one is attacked.
At the time of the Paris confer
ence the late President Wilson &C
cepted the idea of a league which was
to represent the pooling OF the joint
military and naval as well as economic
and financial resources of all mem
Der nations. This combined strength
was to be used TO preserve peace and
to coerce the would-be violators Of
the existing order. This idea was re-
jected by the Senate and the people
of the United States along with the
covenant
! After We withdrew from Europe
/ the same idea was discussed for a
| long period of time and finally set
| forth In the protocol, which put the
, ideas Of the covenant in this respect
| in stronger form. But the British
| at once rejected the idea of their
| feet as the police force of the league
| and their duties as including defend.
| ing all frontiers against any aggres-
| sion.
Locarno Substitute Pact.
The covenant and the protocol hav-
| ing been practically nullified by the
retirement of the United States and
! the rejection of Great Britain, the
! British undertook 20 find a subSti-
! tute, and to this end seized upon the
! German proposition for a Rhine guar
antee. Locarno then represented a
distinct break from the Paris and
Geneva conceptions. The league dis.
appeared from the situation directly.
What took place Of general obliga-
| ton, an underwriting of the whole
European state of frontiers. was the
first of what might well develop into
a series of regional agreements.
Britain agreed to defend the status
/ quo existing from the Dutch to the
Swiss frontiers and specifically to
maintain the boundaries. between
France and Belgium on the one hand
I and Germany on the other, against
| attack. whether French or German.
This British substitute was half
way between the league idea of uni
| versal responsibility and the old
postwar conception Of particular
| alliance. Actually 1t supplied a very
| large measure of security for France.
Belgium and Germany, by giving all
three British guarantee against
attack. It could. then, be made the
point of departure for a later dis
cussion of the question of the nmi-
tation of ornaments. for the arma-
ments of France and Belgium were
| obviously based upon the fear of
later German aggression.
Now. in the larger sense, all limi-
tation OF armament In Europe must
be perceived to depend upon similar
| adjustments of political questions.
| The French, as a result of the final
| satisfaction of their demands for
security through a British guarantee.
are in the process of reducing their
army, as are the Belgians. The COM
binal effect of the disarmament OF
Germany and of the acquisition of a
| British guarantee has led the French
to cut their term of service in the
army from three years to one. This
means that where the French had up
ward Of 100000 troops, exclusive of
colonial and native units, with the
| colors in 1914, they will have by next
| year no more than 100000.
Native Troops Necessary.
! We may exclude the colonial and
native troops from the estimates of
the situation In the present discus
sion because neither France nor
Britain, with their great colonial en-
! pires and their exceedingly grave
problems, is likely to consent to any
arbitrary scaling down Of their CO.
~, Go HI nI, -
| for the French not less than 200, 900 In
North Africa alone and some 230. 600
for the British IN India. Despite the
| fact that some of these colonial troops
| could and would be brought to Europe
in case Of war, they are essential to
the defense Of British and French in.
terests In colonial territories.
The French. having q guarantee,
then, have reduced and are reducing
their European forces. BY the end of
the present year they will have cut
their European forces down to the
| lowest point conceivable, while the
system of conscription-that is, of
training all citizens-remains in vogue.
This Is true because a year with the
colors is necessary for training and
, also to keep any army in existence at
all. Until the French are willing to
adopt the voluntary system, tradi-
tionally employed by the British and
imposed upon the Germans by the
treaty Of Versailles, French disarma-
ment can go no further than Is at
present provided for by France on her
own volition.
But by contrast with France. the
Polish, Rumanian, Jugoslav and
lCzechoslovak situations are quite diff
ferent These nations have no guar
antees from Britain; they also have
no assurance from their powerful
neighbor, Russia, which dominates the