Evening star., 1927-09-11
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
FOUND QUIET NOW
President to Confer With KeI-
logg on Situation-NavaI
ParIey Dominant.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.


week viii be with Frank B. Kellogg
Secretary of State. 1t will deal with
foreign affairs in Europe, China ant
Central America. These have en-
crossed the time and energy of tn,
State Department so incessantly thai
Secretary Kellogg did not even take
4 time of" for a journey to South
Dakota in order to discuss them with
the President.
The Summer White House was. o
course, kept in close touch with de
velopments. but Mr.. Kellogg now has
his first opportunity to review then
comprehensively and from all angles
The failure of Mr.. Coolidge's naya
limitation conference at Geneva will
bulk conspicuously in the interna
tional picture about to be sketched
for his benefit by the Secretary Of
State. The Presidents return coin
cideS with the arrival at WASHINGTON
or John V. A. MacMurray, American
Minister at Peking. He, too, will re-
port promptly to Mr.. Coolidge on the
chaotic and incalculable situation in
China.
In Broad Outline.
In broad outline, these are the out.
standing facts which Secretary Kel-
logg will lay before the President on
the respective subjects enumerated:
Geneva Naval Conference.-The
conference broke down directly and
exclusively because of the surprise
sprung by Great Britain in demand
ing cruiser tonnage that would have
given her marked superiority over
the United States in that class of
ships. The American delegation, act
ing on instructions from Washington
made it clear to the British delegation
at Geneva that it would be absurd"
to think that the United States Sen
ate would ratify any treaty which
placed this country in such a position
OF naval inferiority.
This Government considered the at
titude of Great Britain not only sur.
prising, but indefensible, because
British safety at sea is not menaced
from any quarter IN tf~ world, The
United States did not fail, as has
been charged in this country, to make
possible preparation in advance of
the Geneva conference, to insure its
success. Our naval experts were in
close consultation with the British
naval experts at the preliminary
Geneva disarmament conference for
year and half. There was com.
plete understanding on both. sides as
to what each country was ready to
DO in the way of iimitation. The
United States also made thorough
soundings in London. Nothing ever
happened to prepare America for the
surprise demands for cruisers, which
the British put forward at Geneva.
The Japanese ere uniformly in line
with the American viewpoint.
China Policy justified.
with China" and of protection of
American lives and property" which
the United States adopted as it's sole
program, has, in Secretary Kellogg's
opinion. been justified by results.
Conditions are still far from normal,
but also are far less grave than they
were earlier in the year. There are
are now about 4,500 Marines in China
some 1900 at Shanghai and 5000 at
Tientsin. Perhaps roundly 5000 or
1000 American civilians continue to
reside at various points In China. Gev-
eral thousand were evacuated from
danger zones last Spring, but some of
them have drifted back to their for
mer domiciles. Foreign lives remain
IN perpetual peril, because of the wave
or anti-foreignism still prevalent, and
It mas not yet been found feasible to
relax the protective measures which
the United States and other powers
have instituted.
prophecy with regard to what will
happen in China is idle. Nobody
knows-not even Chinese leaders
themselves. Another advance by the
socalled Southern Nationalist Army
against Peking is imminent, If not al
ready in progress. The forces of
North China. are prepared to offer for
midable resistance. The rival armies
may not clash for some time to come,
because a neutral war-lord occupies
intermediate ground and may be able
to prevent, or at least indefinitely
postpone, decisive action between the
Nationalists and the North Chinese
Civil war is likely to continue, In more
or less virulent form, for years, IL
not decades. though 1t may never
reacn particularly sanguinary dimen.
sions. To date most of the National
lists fighting" operations have been
conducted by propaganda and other
methods OF overcoming resistance,
Nationalism on Increase.
Nationalism is indisputably on the
march in China and will increase rath-
or than diminish in intensity. De-
mands for abolition of the so-calIed
unequal treaties" whereby foreign
powers have hand in administering
Chinese customs tariff and the iudi-
ciary system, will continue.
The demand for abolition of for.
eisn concessions" is also unabated.
II Is on these issues that the anti
!0relgn propaganda campaign thrives
How matters in China are going to
turn out Is guesswork, pure and sim.
PIE. ones guess is as good-or as
bad-as another's. China" as a
national entity is destined. ire the
opinion OF the most competent Aneri.
can observers, to live on, though the
country eventually may take the form
OF federation on sectional lines and
be broken UP into autonomous politi.
cal units. Some authorities think
China may be remade on the lines
OF the present British Empire, which
consists today Of series of abso.
lutely independent sovereign govern.
ments.
Readiness for Mexico.
Mexico.-The Gales governments
attitude toward the rights of Ameri
can citizens just falls short of a VIC
has ended it's "negotiatory" dealings
with Mexico and is standing by ir
readines- to take requisite action il
overt acts" such as the actual con
nscation Of American property, occur
AS President Coolidge set forth IN hi.
New York speech of April IS, this i.
the sole question at issue between our
selves and Mexico. The subject o.
appointing an Ambassador to Mexico
City to succeed Mr.. Sheffield, resigned
has not yet been taken up by the STATE
Department.
Nicaragua a.-Condition as provided
for by the Stimson agreement, ar,
settling down. The consta abulary i
being rapidly organized under Ameri
can supervision, and Gen. Mccoy ha
arrived to undertake the preliminarie
for holding a new presidential election
1A EfxFn y