The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-11-28
WORLDS FUTURE
is HINGED UPON
ARMS DECISIONS
Failure to Halt Far East
Conflict Means General
War, Is Claim.
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIAIMs
soriDps-Howard Foreign Editor

WASHINGTON. Nov. 23-World-
rocking eventualities today hang
upon decisions to be made at Wash
lngton, Paris and in Manchuria.
FAILURE to settle the Chinese
japanese war, it was admitted in
diplomatic circles, will doom the
FEBRUARY arms conference, and
failure of that, delegates to the pre-
paratory parley now in session in
Paris frankly Warned, would mean
world war within the next ten
years.
Senator Borah in washington
and Viscount Cecil in Paris, speak
ing over a world wide radio hook
up Friday night, urged that dis
armament-"the pledge Of the
peace treaties'-must not be al
lowed to fail
New and heavier war budgets.
Borah declared, would be saddled
upon a world where there already
are between fifteen and twenty
million unemployed and from forty
to fifty million men, women and
children facing nakedness, hunger
and starvation.
There are more men under arms
today than in 1914. It is estimated
that the nations quickly could put
100000 men into the field France
has 4,600 war planes ready to take
the air; Britain 2,100; Italy, 300;
United States, 1900; Russia, 1900,
and Japan, l.400.
Thousands of Tanks
In addition there are thousands
of tanks and batteries of artillery
and tens of thousands of machine
guns, plus an unknown quantity of,
gas and similar new devices.
According to President Hoover,
the cost of this colossal war ma
chine now amounts to nearly S.
000,000000 a year, and is mounting
steadily. This country's share aver
ages around $750,O00,0O0 annually, or
about $50 year a family.
Whether there now will be an
upward revision of these figures,
leading to the cataclycsm forecast
by Lord Cecil and other disarma-
ment advocates, or reduction and
limitation, now hinges upon Wash
ington and the League of Nations
and the curbing of the far-eastern
conflict.
Outlook is Dark
That the outlook is dark with
misgivings' regardless, as Senator
Borah declared Friday night, in his
transatlantic radio address, is OBJ
vious. Earlier in the day. Premier
Painleve Of France, had served no.
tice on the Paris conference that
disarmament without a guarantee
Of safety would be a danger to the
whole world"
In vain, Philip Noel Baker, En-
glish Socialist, pointed out that
there was the security offered by
the Kellogg pact, the covenant of
the league and other treaties out
having war. Liberal though he is,
Painleve replied with heat that
these are not enough. Unless
stronger guarantees" are given, he
said, France, for one, would not
disarm.
Writing on Wall
Informed opinion here regards
this clash between British Socialist
and French Liberal as the hand
writing on the wall If President
Hoover's arms reduction and limi-
tation program is to succeed, it is
Observed the worlds peace machin-
cry must be saved from a further
weakening at the hands of the war
party of Japan.
The policy of the United States is
that its national defense needs
purely are relative. They depend
entirely upon how heavily the rest
of the nations are armed. If the
$5000,000,000 war budget of the
world is to be increased, American
taxpayers can not escape their
share of the burden.
It is estimated that Americans
pay nearly 20 per cent of the total
world budget for arms.