Evening star., 1926-06-20
u. S. HELD BLIND TO WAR
PERIL FACED BY EUROPE
Failure to Achieve Results i'm Disarma-
ment Seen Due Partly to American
Lack of Perspective.

to transform the league-which had
become and seemed bound to remain
the association of the nations victori-
Gus in the war 10 maintain the
result-into an association in which
victors and vanquished were alike
included and could work together for
the creation of a stable equillbrsd.n.
Above all, the British wanted Ger
many in to avoid the obvious danger
nation.
While Poincare dominated the
French situation the British concep-
ton was steadily blocked, but when
Poincare fell and the Radical-Socialist
came into power in
France there was change. The
French consented to discuss the Brit
ish conception. But, in company with
their continental friends, they pro
ceeded to give it a very definite twist.
In a word. they agreed that the
league should become universal and
that Germany and her former allies
should be admitted. but they insisted
that to balance this very definite
steps should be taken in the direction
of security. Their views were en-
bodied in the famous protocol which
bound every member nation Of the
10 20 W tie dSSlslduCt Vi any
member wantonly assailed.
Force Was Provided For
This meant that if Russia attacked
Poland or Rumania, Germany as
sailed Poland or Czechoslovakia.
Hungary attacked Rumania or Czech
then all the member ma
tions would be bound TO interfere. and
that to all intents and purposes the
British feet would be pledged to the
task of maintaining the sea for the
league. In word, France and her
continental associates, together with
the neutrals. substantially all of the
continental states, said: Let us make
the league real, let US all agree to
submit all our disputes to compulsory
to insure each others Sc
curity by pledging our aid in case Of
aggression; then, with security in
sured, we can proceed TO discuss the
vital question of the limitation Of
But the British would not hear 10
the protocol for exactly the same rea-
sons our Senate rejected the covenant
of the league-namely. they we're to-
tally unwilling to pledge themselves
to intervene automatically in any Eu-
ropean dispute, to surrender their
freedom of choice. to become bound
and anchored to continental problems
and rivalries. They were willing to
guarantee the Franco-German boun-
dairy against any forcible violation,
with the Belgo-German boundary also
included, because they realized that
any war on the Rhine would involve
them, anyway, and, therefore. that
they undertook no new responsibility.
But that was ALL
Now, since the protocol was reject.
ed by Britain, not the smallest prog
ress has been made in the matter of
general and combined limitation of
ornaments, because no comprehen-
sive plan of guaranteeing security has
been substituted. No conference.
whether under the auspices of the
league or not, can achieve anything
until it is able to address itself 70 the
main question, which is resolving the
doubts in the minds of the nations
which maintain armies because they
believe that they are In danger of an
eventual attack.
Armies Have Been Cut
1t is true that armies have been re-
duced. The French. for example, have
reduced their military and naval ex-
penSeS over so per cent from what
they appropriated for 1914, the. last
peace budget they have reduced their
army from around 900. 900 to less than
$50 900, and they are now reducing IL
again, this time to 10000. Italy has
also restricted military expenses. But
in every case the reduction of Euro
pean ornaments has been wholly
based upon the national estimate of
the existing danger and has no rela-
ton to any question of the principle
of disarmament. With the French
army at 100000 the French will have
35O,O00 for home defense and 250,000
for the colonial army, while their
trast, maintains some 240, 900 troops
in India alone. while her home army
at 100000, rather less than
half the French, but she has a su-
preme fleet, which serves to cover her
against invasion and performs pre-
cisely the task allotted to the French
army. Beyond this point both the
French and the British affirm that
without compromising their own
safety they cannot go until such time
as conditions are materially changed
Moreover, as a matter of fact, the
British see quite clearly that they
cannot ask the French to reduce their
army further, while insisting that the
British fleet remain intact. There
fore, since Franco-British relations
are fundamentally friendly. there is
no object for the British in having the
issue raised. To argue for greater re-
duction of the French army while re.
fuSing to limit their own navy and at
the same time declining to undertake
any larger responsibility for French
security would convict the British of
pretty Grass hypocrisy.
Italy Reorganizes Army.
Italy is reorganizing and re-eauip-
ping her army, but it remains ma
teriaily below the standard of num-
oerS OF pre-war years. Her fleet is of
little Importance because, like the
French, 1t is restricted by the Wash
inston conference agreement and also
by the lack of any financial resource
to permit any ambitious program of
expansion. But. again, Britain can
not Insist upon a reduction of the
Italian army while she keeps her
navy at its present point. AS long as
any nation insists upon the right to
decide for itself what steps 1t shall
take in the way of self-protection. it
cannot object to similar policy on the
part OF any other nation, unless 1t is
prepared to underwrlte the security
of that nation with its own armed
strength.
Now the United States has increas-
ed its military and naval expenses
over 90 per cent since 1914, where
France and most European nations
have cut theirs by the same percent
age. We have built fleet which
divides with Britain the supremacy of
the sea. This fleet, too. reinforces
our protective belt of 5000 miles OF
sea and insures our utter security.
We have an army much larger than
before the World War. an army
strong enough to overrun our north
ern neighbor, Canada, at will. More
ever, we have at least twice in recent
years showed that Our military and