Evening star., 1932-10-03

Of Versailles was signed Germany was
disarmed, her ships sunk. her colonies
torn away. her territory divided.
Hungary and Austria severed. torn
apart, economically crippled to the
point of penury. The Central Powers
were reduced to impotency. Neverthe-
less, the allies are spending billions for
ornaments The question Of disarma-
ment has been ana now Is the prob
lem of those who came victorious out OF
the war, and dictated their own terms
to the conquered. If disarmament fails,
the fearful obiiquy must rest with those
who won the war.
It seems strange so little progress
has been made in disarmament. All
nations profess to be for disarmament,
powerful speeches are made periodically
by the representatives Of governments
for disarmament The people are in
favor of disarmament. But little prog
ress is being made.
Assails Intolerance.
1t is singular that the outlook seems
doubtful Why IS it? It seems to me.
it is because of the intolerance. the
unwillingness. of nations Ito live and
let live" to grant to all peoples the
right ito live their own lives in their
own way" the reluctance to concede
that honesty of purpose and sincerity
in "our" cwn land. In individuals we
loathe intolerance, we despise narrow
ness of view and insufferable egotism
But those things which are vices with
individuals seem to be virtues with
nations.
Last May I received letter from
distinguished person in Europe. In
this letter were these lines: Your
country is again disclosing keen de-
sire to see European nations diserm.
We are compelled to doubt either your
knowledge of our problems. or-whicll
we do not like to do but sometimes are
forced to do-your sincerity. Russia
could bring her troops across our bor-
ders in dangerously short time. You
say to us: Disarm. Reduce your
armies. Yet you say to the world that
Russia Is so dangerous. so thoroughly
to be feared, that you will not admit
her to place in the family of nations,
Notwithstanding you are thousands of
miles away from her. If you were
situated as We are. I wonder what
would be the size OF your army and
navy"
We promote peace pacts, we urge
disarmament. we would have universal
peace, but we exclude from our con-
sideration and from all our plans,
estrange from our circle and exclude
from our glorious scheme for a better
world one-sixth of the earths surface
and 16O,0O0,0o0 people.
Is it because they repudiated their
debts? These debts can be adjusted on
a far more favorable basis than we
adjusted the debts Of other nations
Is 1T because Of her propaganda? Does
any one in public place have so little
faith in the intelligence of the Ameri-
can people? Is it because they want
government of their own conception?
To deny them that would be contrary
to the fundamental tenets of our faith.
Soviet Government stable"
We simply fail to measure up to the
spirit of tolerance, of amity, Of willing
ness 70 cooperate upon any true basis
Of world peace. The basis of all peace
plans, the foundation of all disarma-
ment plans are the natural and ordinary
relations, commercial and diplomatic;
or, in other words, the willingness of
one to deal with another upon the
basis Of equality, Of justice, of respect
For IA years the government of
Russia has stood up against intrigues
from within and conspiracies from
without. It is a stable government
The United States, the Soviet Govern
ment of Russia are both signers of the
Kellogg pact. The representatives Of
this Government and the representa-
tives of the Soviet government of
Russia met at London and discussed
for days the wheat problem. Our rep
resentatives sit near the Soviet repre-
sentatives at Geneva. I understand
they bow nervously to one another, but
do not speak-in the open
But we refuse to do that which makes
for amity, for peace, for disarmament
How deep and impelling is cur desire
for peace, for good will on earth and
among men?
My view is that we have come to
the period in this awful situation-mil
lions hungry, armament expenditures
increasing distress among
the people and heavier burdens for
them to carry-when we must seek
spiritual disarmament. When we must
put in practice that which we preach
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