The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1930-03-13
THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1880.
CABLING OUR, DELEGATES

+. CABLING OUR DELEGATES
+ When President Hoover appointed
I. the American delegation to the Lon
don conference, his selections were
! generally acclaimed. 1t was every
/. where conceded that it was one of the,
strongest groups it was possible to
!. choose. This delegation has been in
/. London face to face with the facts
and the difficulties of the situation,
and nothing has developed to create
lack of confidence in them.
/. Nevertheless some of our home
grown guardians Of peace and other
| things evidently believe that those
u who are on the ground in contact
with the facts need some prodding
i. and advice from people who are many
hundreds of miles away. Consequent
/ ly a group of forward looking persons
( in New York, all of them incidently
/ boosters of forms of internationalisni
the American people have decisively
rejected, spent several thousand dol
lars telephoning and telegraphing to
some twelve hundred Representative
Americans" four hundred words re-
minding the delegates of what Presi-
: dent Hoover has said relative to the
purpose of the conference, and urging,
in effect, that the Presidents idea of
naval parity be attained without
American naval construction. 1t is
not surprising that when the eighteen
ounce cablegram reached the Ameri-
can delegates, they were not well
pleased
just how American naval parity is
to be maintained without American
naval building, in case Great Britain
declines to do any ship-sinking was
not explained to the delegates. The
lack of parity is due to the fact that
while the United States sunk half
billion dollars worth of battleships
following the Washington conference
to ensure naval parity, Great Britain
proceeds feeverishly to build cruisers
with the effect that naval parity was
upset. Our government has held off
in naval construction, and is willing
to continue to do so, provided Great
Britain will do her turn at ship sink
ing; otherwise to attain parity the
United States will have to do some
cruiser building. The blame for this
is not on the United States, but on
Great Britain for having upset parity
in cruisers. It,. -s45 taes.f
Great Britain's navy building, it is
true, is not directed against the Uni
ted States, but against France. Never
theless this disturbs ratio agreed on
at the Washington conference, and to
this principle of equality the Ameri-
can government is committed. Just
why the 1900 persons who signed the
"appeal" to the American delegates
did not ship their advice to the Brit
ish and French delegates instead is
puzzling. v...
This much is certain, and has been
certain from the beginning of the ma
val conference. If there is no agree
i. ment at London a powerful element
j in the United States will blame the
disagreement on the United States;
indeed the charge is already being
broadcast that it is the determination
of the American government to domi-
nate the world through superior
armament that keeps the world under
the shadow of war; The fact that
, there is no justification whatever for
this charge will not interfere in the
least with our domestic International
lists who profess to believe that any
American measure locking to ade-
quate national defense is a gesture of
defiance to the whole world and evil
dence that Uncle Sam is getting ready
to go forth to seek whom he may de-
YOUR. 80
A good many people doubtless
signed this $4,000 appeal without
giving it much consideration. Petit
ton signing is one of the favorite
. American indoor sports played upon
by pretentious organizations and lead
ers protesting to represent "the peo-
pie of the United States" Doubtless
the American delegation at London
realizes that most of the people of the
United States have confidence in their
patriotism and intelligence, and are
willing to have these negotiations
carried on the light of information
rather than of distant speculation.
-O-------'
C,1hcoriho for. Tho PopYIh1icon Cor.