The Washington times., 1926-03-17
By GEORGE r. HOLMES

Any small faint hopes that the
League of Nations can or will go
through with its projected plan
of staging a worldwide confer
ence this year flickered out today
The narrow escape from COM
plete collapse, which the League
has just experienced at Geneva
is regarded by Administrator
officials as the final act in a
long drama of evasion and cir
scumstances of American hopes.
Coolidge Concerned
simultaneously, with the aband-
onment of the last hope so far as
the League is concerned, President
Coolidge inaugurated series of
conferences with his principal adj
visers on European affairs to deter
mine a course of American pro-
cedure, to determine what, If any
thing, can be done in the some
what embarrassing circumstances.
Administration officials make no
bones about their feeling that the
dominant League powers have
p'trioked" Mr.. Coolidge in the mat
ter of the disarmament conference.
and by a policy of subterfuge and
downright misrepresentation have
succeeded in so shaping affairs
that 1926 probably will pass with
out seeing another mil es to n e
reached in the march toward lesser
armament and world peace.
The principal question to be de-
cided by the President, in con-
ference with Ambassador Houghton.
called home from London, and
Minister Hugh S. Gibson, sum
moned to Washington from Geneva.
is whether the United States can
now properly initiate any move.
toward the holding of conferences
this year.
The concensus Of opinion is.
understood TO be that no move is
possible at this tiIne-at least, no
move that could be calculated to
have any real chance for success.
A year ago, President Coolidge
initiated movement toward q.
new disarmament G 20 m e n g.
American diplomats abroad were in
structed to sound on" the various
powers, the necessary procedure
before any formal invitations could
be dispatched. OF the great powers,
France atone adopted negative
and somewhat hostile attitude, and
drew her smaller allies, notably
Poland, into supporting her.
The pressure. however. became
acute, and being unwilling to be
put into the position of blocking a
second Washington conference,
France and her allies prevailed
upon the League to beat America
to it, by issuing the invitations
| for a disarmament conference at
Geneva. This was done-with a
haste that officials here considered
at least undignified.
Frances Scheme
France, according to the version
generally accepted here, counted
strongly lon America rejecting the
Leagues invitation, thus afforling
an excuse for ditching the whole
undertaking. But President Cool
| idge accepted the invitation and
abandoned his own plans for call
ing the powers to the Washington
conference table again.
From that point on, persistent
delays" have been thrust in the
pathway of the proposed confer
ence. The date for the preliminary
meeting. set for February Is, was
abandoned upon the French argu-
ment that Germany should be a
member of the League before the
nations of the world should prop
erly sit down to talk about scrap
ping their armament. Germany's
entrance into the League was set
| for March.
Now, however, Germany's en-
trance to the League has been post
poned until at least September, If
not longer, because France injected
into the proceedings at Geneva
troublesome Issue that if Germany
were granted a seat on the League
Council, Frances eastern ally,