Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-01-12
BY WILLIAM HARD.

ABOARD THE s. 3. GEORGE
WASHINGTON AT SEA, January IL
The American delegates to the London
Naval Conference have not been dis
turbed by the announcement that
France refuses to grant naval equality
to italy. The delegates Of the United
States are convinced that q treaty can
be signed without fixing any absolute
mathematical relations or ratios be-
tween the Mediterranean powers.
Secretary OF State StAmson, Secre-
tary Of the Navy Adams, Ambassador
Morrow and Senators Reed and Rob-
inson are also convinced that Mediter-
ranean rivalries will not in any case pre-
vent the full protection Of American
naval interests relative to the British.
There is on this boat the usual cargo
of jokes about the willingness of
European diplomacy and the sad fate
CT American negotiators who, it is
said. always get "gypped" by 1t. One
hears the constantly repeated observa-
ton or accusation that at the Washing
ton Arms Conference in 1921 We lost our
pants and that at the London Naval
Conference this year We may expect to
lose our shirt.
Such notions are in fact not war
ranted by the history of American and
British diplomatic negotiations, which
in the course Of decade after decade
coming q weaker factor, but becoming
always q stronger and stronger factor
In the international diplomatic world
situation. In any case, however, there
Is little in the character of the present
American delegation to justify the be-
lief or suspicion that its members are
likely to be blindfolded and hornswog-
gled by any European diplomatic
strong-arm men or sleight-of-hand
artists.
The head of the delegation, Secretary
Stimson, is looked at askance in some
quarters in the United States because
of his long attachment to Elihu Root
and thus, 1t is claimed, to interna-
tionalistic ideas such as joining the
League of Nations The fact of the
matter is that Mr.. Stimson's former
favorable attitude toward American
membership in the League Of Nations
is no longer evident In him. On the
contrary, there Is excellent reason for
believing that he has entirely shifted
and reversed his views of this problem
under the influence Of the very different
philosophy Of the Kellogg BRAND peace
pact.
The author Of the "outlawry Of war"
idea, which is enshrined in the peace
pact, Mr.. s. q. Lsvinson of Chicago. was
a college cics-ulAte of Mr.. StimSon's,
and it is possible to say with approx
mate accuracy that Mr. Levinson's hos
tility to the sanctions" and to the
threats of force and of war in the
League of Nations covenant is now fully
shared by Mr.. stimson. Mr.. stimson
can no longer be regarded as q person
IN hA ~
plications of Europe or into its philoso-
ply of using the threat of war to deter
nations from starting wars. So far as
the head Of this present American dele
CATION is concerned, 1t is extremely I'M
likely that we shall see any move to-
ward committing the United States to
use its armed forces to preserve peace
on any theory that such commitment
would facilitate an agreement for naval
reduction.
All the other members Of the delega-
ton are thought at this time to be
equally firm against any such policy.
Moreover, when 1t comes down to nego-
tiations about navies 1t Is thought that
the delegates represent very high level
Of hard-headed trading capacity.
Secretary Of the Navy Adams Is an
Adams, and that Is just about all that
needs to be said regarding him. Three
generations Of Adamses before him have
traded automatically with Europeans
and have never given away q point to
them. Mr.. John Adams, Mr.. John
Quincy Adams and Mr.. Charles Francis
Adams, in the period from 1852 to 1865,
we're among the most resolute and in
sistent negotiators that any modern
country has ever had; and the present
Charles Francis Adams, Secretary Of
the Navy, is made In their mold.
Mr.. Dwight Morrow, lawyer, banker,
diplomat, is admittedly one Of the
astutest traders in the world, fully ex-
perienced in legal subtleties and in
business exchange and deals and in
diplomatic maneuvers. These three
different sort of experiences. combined
in one man, will not be excelled In
the personality Of any negotiator whom
to bring forward to match Mr.. Morrow.
****
As for the two Senators in the
American delegation, Mr.. Reed of
Pennsylvania and Mr.. Robinson of
Arkansas, 1t would be minimizing them
to call them merely hard-headed. They
are hard-boiled. They are Of the con-
sistency and chemical composition of
nails. They are extremely strong for
national defense and 1t would be quite
beyond the possibilities Of their mental
temperaments to trade on q ship for a
soft word. If there Is anything that
would seem psychologically sure, it is
that Mr. Reed and Mr.. Robinson will
never come back with any treaty which
| would in the slightest degree impair
| the power of the United States to de-
fend itself against any foe.
The delegates who will be picked UP
In London, Mr.. Charles Gates Dawes
and Mr.. Hugh Gibson, are also charac-
terized by notable lack of softness
| and simplicity In their dispositions
Mr.. Dawes has known his way around
| in the intricacies of practical politics
since the days of President Mckinley
and 1t is not yet reported that anybody
! ever succeeded in cheating him. Mr.
Gibson Is o vehemently American man
who WAS almost trlIclllent and oVerbear-