Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-03
BIZ FRANK Fl. SIMONDS,

wv change in the presidency
as the end and the begin
ming of an era, it Is at least
true that Mr.. Hoover will be the first
postwar President. He is the first
Chief Executive who will come to the
White House to deal both at home and
abroad with world which has largely
escaped from the immediate conse-
quenceS of the World War More
over, in his foreign relations, Mr.. Hoo
yer will have to deal with a Europe
which. in the main, has taken a form
Likely to endure for many years,
Again. if one contrast the situation
of the United States and of Europe
both separately and in relation to each
other, with that which confronted
Woodrow Wilson only Is years ago. il
is unmlStakable that the changes are
beyond exaggeration. Those Is years
! have witnessed the transformation of
the United States into world power
n the most exact sense of the word
and they have seen even vaster changes
in Europe.
The problem of international rela-
tions Is no longer what it was in 1919
~ tie moment Of the peace conference.
"a 1928 during the occupation of the
RUhr or in lo25-26 when the Locarno
pacts we're being made and Germany
Nas. with some difficulty. entering the
patnway OF the League of Nations. 1t
IS no longer the problem of avoiding
chaos and preventing new revolutions,
rather Il is the task of discovering en-
during adjustments for nations and
peoples in conditions destined TO last.
Three Major Problems.
In the existing circumstances the
new President will be confronted by
three major problems in foreign rela
tons. that which grows out of Anglo
American differences, which is perhaps
the most considerable and certainly the
most acute; that which results from
the vast complex network of issues re-
lating to debts and German repara-
tons, and that which concerns our rela-
tons with the great republics and
smaller states of Latin America, In
addition, there is, of course, the issue
which centers about China, but for
the moment can be adjourned
AS to Anglo-American relations it Is
patent that all present discussion CEN
ters about naval issues, but what is
hardly less clear upon examination, Is
that the naval detail is rather the ap-
parent than the real source Of difficulty
What has produced the difficulty Is the
fact that the sudden arrival of the
United States as world power has
automatically disturbed the whole
basis of British position in the world.
Since the fall of Napoleon. at least. the
conception that any nation should &C.
cupy the position with respect of Britain
which We have definitely indicated we
mean to occupy, has seemed intolerable
il British eyes.
There is no way under Heaven today
by which Britain can have that ulti-
mate security she has hitherto en-
joyed by reason of her fleet, and we
possess that security for our ever-grow-
ing commerce and that guarantee
against being involved in the next Euro
pean war which are the detectives Of
American national desire today. We
have either got to agree never to use
our equal feet against Britain, when
she Is at war, no matter what her
course. or Britain has got to resign
herself to run the risks incident to
such use Of our feet.
Real Extent of Dispute.
Mr.. Hoover takes office at the moment
when the real extent of the Anglo
American dispute is being envisaged
The most important immediate issue
before him will be some method of ad-
Justment OF the difference.
AS far as I can judge the British
are rapidly coming to the point Of per-
ceiving that nothing can prevent or
even long postpone the arrival of a
day when we shall have equality on
that basis which we assert to be parity
But there remains in Britain very
general conviction that the menace
such parity has for England can be
abolished by some such device as the
Capper resolution or by some other
expansion of the Kellogg pact.
Mr.. Hoover is bound to be faced by a
series Of concerted efforts in Europe,
and particularly in Britain, to tie us
into the existing system Of order
founded upon the League of Nations
And all these efforts will center in the
attempt not to persuade us to join the
league. but TO promise that when the
league declares war against some
nation, adjudged by it to be guilty of
aggression, we will not insist upon our
right to trade with that nation, that
we shall, so to speak, respect the police
lines established by the league
Any such agreement would auto
natlcally abolish any danger of COLI
sion between Britain and ourselves at
sea, because the British, as members
OF the league, would at all times be
assured OF league warrant for any OF
their hostilities. But. on the other hand
any such agreement would mean in
icdAIly our promise 10 embargo our ex-
ports TO any nation adjudged guilty by
the league and would impose upon us an
enormous and disproportionate cost.
If Mr. Hoover refuses to support
either an Anglo American partnership
or broader partnership with the
league, he is bound to face the posi-
blity either of British resistance OF
the principle of parity by means of ar
expansion of British tonnage OF
some form Of Anglo-French or other
entente
Preparations and Debts.
When one turns to the old problem oil
PREPARATIONS and debts, it is clear thai
once the present young commission ha.
terminated its labors, always assuming
agreement is reached. the situation vii
be this Germany will be required to pay
certain sum Of money annually for &
fixed number Of years. This sum viii
be equal to the sum of the yearly con.
tributionS paid 10 us and to each Other
by the formerly allied nations anc
roughly to the further amount paid BY
France and Belgium on account of thu
bonds issued by them to defray thu
IF rncpNStr,lCtir,u thar