Evening star., 1932-01-10
ARMS PARLEY BELIEVED
DOOMED AS SIDESHOW
Irreconcilable Attitudes of u. S. and
Europe Expected to Bring
Clash and Failure.

the covenant of the League, the Kellogg
pact and the consultive agreement Of the
nine-power treaty. AS g. consequence
France will ask security engagements
of the most precise and formal char
acter, and, failing these, will stand fast
to her thesis, which dooms the con-
ference in advance.
At Lausanne France will say that re-
duction of reparations must be balanced
by reduction in war debts. And, Of
course, since no reduction in repara-
tions can be made without French as
sent, nothing that Great Britain, Italy
or Belgium could urge would make any
difference, and, in fact, all three of
these nations are as one with France
in seeking to trade reparations in for
debts.
The trouble Is that in its present pre-
dicament the Hoover administration
cannot come out into the open and tell
the American people the fact that dis
armament is impossible save as the
country Is ready to give European
pledges, and financial readjuStment in
Europe is conditional upon American
agreement to the cancellation of debts.
For political reasons it has to keep on
with the obviously inexact assertions
that disarmament is an ethical and eco
nomic question and debts and repara-
tions are wholly separate.
But, in fact, Tire nation in Europe
which Is most heavily armed and most
determined to maintain its armed
forces, namely France, is the country
which has the smallest budget deficit,
the slightest number of unemployed
and remains the most prosperous of
all the considerable powers. Thus the
familiar Hoover argument that Europe
Is crumbling under the burden Of arrna-
ment expenses proves inapplicable to
the country best armed. 1t is compare
lively disarmed Germany which Is stag
gering under military and naval ex-
penses and In fact under all govern
mental expenses, because she is broke.
Hoover Adopts Untenable Role.
In the present situation it is little
hard to see why Washington remains
anchored to the fiction that the solu-
tion of the European problem is ltmi-
tation Of armament. Adherence to this
fiction compels the resort to all sorts of
devices to give the Geneva Conference
a semblance of reality and must sim
ilarly impose the necessity of making
the results, which all Europe has al
ready dismissed as bound to be
negligible, appear important.
Again, when the United States can
have no influence Of any sort in
Europe save as it is ready to take on
security pacts and agree to debt re-
ductions, it is difficult to see any real
profit in keeping up the illusion that
we are going to Europe to perform q
great service to mankind by offering
advice which will not be taken and re-
| fusing actions which alone would give
our presence @ serious value in Euro
| pean eyes.
Probably quite unconsciously Mr..
Hoover has drifted into purely Will
sonian attitude toward the European
problem He has adopted the role Of 8
liberator Of European peoples from the
burdens placed upon them by their own
politicians in the matter of armament
, and constituted himself the spokesman
Of American idealism in the face Of the
very definite state Of mind of American
politicians in Congress.
But the trouble is that, as Wilson
found out, in Europe the masses still
follow their politicians and in America
the people tend in the end to march
with the Capitol rather than the White
House. America can play the role of a
moral leader in Europe only by paying
material price for the honor. Europe
is not intrigued by our beautiful eyes or
by Oul oplCll0ld AZ 10 CD11-
cerned with the frtghtful realities of its
own problems and conceives that If
we desire to play role in European
affairs we must accept the situation as
1t exists in the European mind.
Urges Delegates to Stay Home.
A disarmament conference in the
present state of mind in Europe is pre-
cisely as pertinent as a prohibition
rally in New York "speakeasy." There
are relatively large number of people
in the United States who regard dis
armament and peace as moral, not
political, questions and see disarma-
ment conference as sort of crusade
or missionary undertaking. This opin-
ion Is gratified by the course the Presi-
dent has taken and by the emphasis
he has laid upon the Geneva Confer
ence, and these moralists and idealists
applaud his course and share his ap-
parent optimism over prospective re-
suits.
But the sober truth is that the prob
lens OF Europe are political, nor moral,
not even primarily economic and finan-
cial, in so far as European govern
ments are concerned. Their approach
to the problems is political and as long
as American delegations are not pre-
pared to talk politics they might just
as we'll save their steamer passage
money and proclaim their principles on
this side of the Atlantic, where they
will be taken seriously.
Ever since Mr.. Wilson set out upon
his Adventure of Peace" 13 years ago
We have been exporting idealism and
capital to Europe. At the close of this
relatively long period Europe has alb
sorbed the capital, but so far has been
unable to assimilate any of our So
called idealism. Meantime Europe looks
with amazement upon the fact that its
own idealism, expressed in terms Of
debt cancellation and security pacts,
has effected no Judgement upon our
shores. At Geneva we are going to
talk American again to peoples who
are sure to reply in fervent European
and, at the close of the speechmaking,
the Atlantic will be as wide as before.
(Copyright, 1922