Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-11-10
Peace Progress Seen Slow


n truce, a breathing spell before the
world again fell to bloody conflict.
butchery of men and boys, starvation
Of women and children.
Those who sat in the Senate chamber
that October day, in what might well be
termed "the seats of the mighty" listen
ing to the earnest plea of the head of
the worlds greatest empire for better
understanding among nations. could see
back Of him, across the Atlantic, the
people whom he represented. People
who had contributed their sons, their
fathers, their brothers and their huS-
bands, to the number of S07, Ash killed
on the battlefields of France. Belgium
and elsewhere. People who had given
the arms, the legs, the eyes, the minds
of millions Of other men, In the hope
and the belief that war and militariSm
would be ended forever. People who
had borne and are still bearing the
enormous, staggering cost in money OF
q victorious" war which yielded addi-
tional territory, mandates and response
bilities-but no jobs. no earned bread
and butter for millions who subsist only
by reason of charitable doles.
Navies Big Burden.
The people whom Mr.. Macdonald
represents have no desire to kill the
people represented by those who occupy
seats on the floor of the United States
Senate. Yet the people of both nations
are burdened with the expenditure each
year of hundreds of millions of dollars
for navies that 90 per cent OF the
people of both nations believe, and hope,
will never come into conflict with each
other. AS President Hoover said in an
address on Memorial day, 1929
Despite the declaration OF the KEEL
logg pact. every important country has
since the signing of that agreement (out-
having war; been engaged In strength
ening its naval arm. We are still borne
on the tide of competitive building.
unless we can halt competitive con-
struction of arms. They will never dis
appear until we can turn this tide to-
ward actual reduction"
Similarly, Premier Macdonald. adj
dressing the Assembly of the League Of
Nations on September 5, 1929, said:
1.-THE problem Of the League of Ma
tons is a problem of security, and Sc
curity, as we saw in 1924, was very
largely q problem of psychology.
$50 long as nations doubt, so long as
nations suspect, then 1t is absolutely inn
possible for us, do what we may, to get
them to accept the settled conditions Of
peace, which alone enables them to pro-
coed in a satisfactory way to solve
problems like that of disarmament.
"Since 1924 we have started upon an
other road: the pact of peace has been
signed in Paris, and that pact is now
Just Laid Foundation.
Eleven years after the Armistice,
therefore, we have simply laid the foun-
dation for world peace; the structure is
yet to be reared and to be made secure
l,,~A S,.ka al Tfxso Il
ry, suspicion and discord. We are still
In the midst of an armiStice, the end
of which no one can foretell with GER
tainty That armistice may end in an
enduring peace, based on justice and
good will among the nations: IL may
end with the beginning of cataclysmic
struggle which will sweep away the very
foundations of modern civilization.
Throughout the world there is one
great question asked by all peoples:
"What chance peace?" BY July "a.
1929, when the Kellogg BRAND treaty
was solemnly proclaimed IN ceremony
at the White House. 46 nations had
pledged themselves by ratification OF
the pact to renounce war and to set
tie all disputes between them by pacific
means.
That pledge is q starting point or
foundation. The most nlomentous ques-
ton of our times is whether there is
enough real craftsmanship in the world
to- build anything worth while on that
foundation, The professions Of friend
ship that attended the visit Of Premier
Macdonald to the United States were
sincere and heartfelt. No one can doubt
that. But good wishes and handclasps
will not settle the problems of the
world Practical action Is necessity.
The test Of craftsmanship. the answer
to the question, How will the arnni-
stice end?" will be found in the con-
ference st. London in January of the
representatives of Great Britain. the
United States, France, Italy and Japan.
Suspicious Of Each Other.
The great nations Of the world are
now In the position of men IN some out
post of civilization who have agreed to
settle their disputes by judicial process.
They are suspicious Of each other. OF
the Judge, of the law, Of the outcome,
They are at the point where 1t is nec-
esSary to make decision whether to
lay down and abandon their revolvers
and knives before entering the court
room. Unless they do, there Is every
likelihood that In the end, regardless
Of the decision of the court, the dis
pute will be settled by force and blood
shetland violent death, rithlessly in
fiicted.
tempts and failures of the past, who
knows the difficulties and obstacles of
the present, will unqualifiedly predict
successful outcome Of the London con-
ference. Yet the hope of the happiness
and wellbeing of generations unborn, as
well as millions upon millions of these
now living Is altogether dependent upon
agreement Of the men who meet at Lon
don.
Those who are pessimistic about the
outcome are not without justification for
their attitude. Thirty years ago the
Car of Russia called the first Hague
conference, attended by representatives
Of 26 nations. In his call for the con-
ference the Gar said:
Cars Statement.
1.-THE economic crisis, due in great
part to the system of ornaments and
the continual danger which lies in the
n1assing OF war material, are transform
ing the armed peace of our days into a
crushing burden. which the people have
more and more difficulty in bearing
The intellectual and physical strength
OF the nations labor and capital are for
the major part diverted from their
natural application and unproductively
consumed. Hundreds of millions are
devoted to acquiring terrible engines of
destruction which, though today regard
ed as the last yord of science, are des-
tined tomorrow to lose all value in con-
sequence Of some fresh discovery in the
same field
1T appears evident. then, that if this
state of things were prolonged it would
inevitably lead to the very cataclysm it
is desired to avert, and the horrors Of
which make every thinking nan shud-
der in advance"
The cataclysm and horrors were not
everted. Later peace" conferences at
The Hague failed to bring about reduce
ton or limitation of armament. The
fsilures increased international suspi-