The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1930-02-13
They Do Not Want Peace
But War!

By Fred Ellis

inevitability and nearness of fresh world con-
flicts, and all this for the purpose of creating
a military and political situation favorable to
one or the other power or group.
The preparation for war will be conducted
at this conference in various directions. In the
first place it will be possible to complete in
London that undertaking which was COM
menced eight years ago in Washington, j. e.,
the liquidation of the obsolete or too expen-
sive weapons in order thereby to release means
to be employed for the same war purpose but
more productivity" as for example for the
preparation of aerial, chemical or bacteriologi-
cal warfare The proposal of the English gov
eminent to lengthen the maximum age of
ships of the line and even further to limit
their number and tonnage has precisely this
aim in view.
Other proposals will, however, be brought
forward at the London Conference regarding
the limitation of naval ornaments Each of
the participating powers has its plans which
differ from the others only in that each of
these plans aims at limiting precisely that
category of ship or weapon in which the OPP
ponent has the greatest interest and which
constitutes the greatest danger to the power
proposing this limitation. Thus England is
aiming at limiting the construction of big
cruisers by America and the construction of
submarines by France. America on the other
hand demands such a standard of total ton
mage for big cruisers as will give the U. S. A.
superiority over the British cruisers scattered
over all parts of the globe, while France de-
tends the possibility of unrestricted develop
ment of its submarine fleet which in the first
place is directed against England The real
military character of the self-seeking proposals
is not in any way altered by the pacifist ar
guments which are used to cloak them. 1t is
perfectly obvious that all this has nothing in
common with peace or a limitation of arma-
ments, but is nothing else but an attempt to
compel the opponent to abandon the weapon
most favorable to him in naval war and is in
fact step in the preparation of this war.
At the same time the contradictory proposals
of which there is talk have very little chance
of being realized. As is to be seen from the
recent declaration of Ramsay Macdonald, the
English imperialists do not seriously expect
any success in this direction. 1t suffices to
point to the French Memorandum of December
20 which contains sufficient reservations and
malicious hints, in order to realize the COM
plete impossbiity of a successful solution of
the fundamental questions of naval disarma-
ment. We may merely add that this confer
ence as can be seen from this Memorandum
and the text of the English invitation to this
conference, can adOpC only provisional ana
conditional decisions which must then be SUBJ
mitted to the disarmament" bodies Of the
League of Nations for ratification.
The essence of the matter consists, however,
in that every one of the powers is only en-
deavoring to solve the political problem of
creating relation of forces favorable to it.
self. For England this problem is at present
reduced to making use of the compromise
agreement forced upon it by the United States
against the other partners in that imperiaist
game that is being played behind all pacifist
phrases and in the first place against France
It is precisely for this reason that England
is demanding the abolition of submarines
Italy is making claims to naval parity with
France, chiefly in order to extort concessions
from the latter in regard to territorial and
colonial questions Japan is balancing between
England and America and is making use Of the