Evening star., 1932-10-23
DEMANDS OF ALL NATIONS
BLOCK ARMS CONFERENCE
French, German and Italian Purposes
lrreconcilable in Europe While
Japan Seeks Bigger Navy.

, with the Council Of the League in the
japanese matter, the American Govern
ment had given proof Of readiness to
! act as we'll as to discuss consultation.
| Finally, the President, himself, by pro-
claiming the Hoover doctrine of pon-
recognition had taken the United States
one step further in the direction Of CO.
operation The French were now aware
that in case of any future aggression
the United States would 60 to council
with the League po1 ers. that If the
st mcon Interpretation of tie kellogg
pact were accepted by Congress. it would
aggressor. to the extent of waving its
neutral rights and. finally. that it
would decline to recognize the results
of any aggression measured in territorial
anneXations.
On this basis it is clear that Wash
ington believed it was in position to
ask France for some material reduction
in military forces and for an accept
ance of the conditions Of the London
Naval Conference. That, after ALL must
have been the calculation back OF the
Hoover message to Geneva last June
proposing the general reduction in ef-
fectives. Unhappilv. however, the Eu-
rtpcah situation hid again become
acute. with the re9ul! tlai tie Ameri-
cen p-oposcli new seemed inadeque.c C
Il tie F cncn.
In feet. With the accession to power
of the Papen cabinet, which represented
the practical overthrow of the German
republic and the restoration of the old
pre-war Junker element to control, and
accompanied by an immediate dema nd
of the new cabinet for equality in arms.
France began again to become alarmed
and to look once more to the question OF
security Despite the fact that the Left
was now in power in France and Her
riot and his following represented the
moderate elements in France, in no long
time the Radical Socialist premier was
restating the nationalist principles OF
Tardieu in the matter of security.
Placed on Contingencies.
Once more France placed all projects
OF reduction of armaments upon con-
tlrgent basis. The program which Her
riot lately proposed in London included
mutual agreements for defense between
nations fearful Of attack and a general
project of an international police force.
recalling the original Bourgeois project
OF IA years before. Of course, in the
French conception. no further commit
ment was asked of the United States
beyond coming to conference in times
Oh crisis and recognizing sanctions by
the League But on the basis of these
American commitments the French now
asked the British for new assurances.
The British. on the other hand. rather
tardily-because there is great disagree
nent within the national cabinet-be-
gan to argue that the American prom
ises constituted all that france could
ask in the matter of security and were
dIsinclined to go further. In reality,
Britain. still plunged in the depths of
ner economic and financial crisis. has
no desire to hear about European poll
tics. much less to be dragged still
deeper into Franco American quarrels.
Nevertheless. it is plain that the fate
OF the arms conference turns upon the
French course If France. backed by
her Polish. little entente and Belgian al
lies, declines to consent to any material
reduction of military forces or agree to
German parity. then nothing more can
hs ppen at Geneva in the arms confer
ence. On the other hand. If Germany
stays away because her demand for mil
itary parity is unsatisfied, the result is
the same. But France will not meet
German demands without new security
pledges. And so far she has also held
out against Italian naval claims
At the moment there are thfee fixed
purposes which. are irreconcilable: The
French. not tdDfeduce armaments with
cut increased security guarantees in the
shape of an international police force;
the German, not to return to Geneva
until the Reich has been assured of
equality; the Italian, not to modify the
demand for naval parity with France
Then, on the side. there are Britain and
the United States-the former deter
mined not to add to its political COM
mitments on the continent and the lat
ter unready to join in anything but
moral pressure against an aggressor
But the Americans and the British
desire to save the arms conference and
the British are also eager to save the
League, which must be grievously. if not
fatally. injured by collapse of the
arms conference, following upon the
Manchurian fiasco They are thus
bought face to face again with France.
and so far the French have disclosed
NJ willingness to quit the positions
they have held from the time of Clem-
enceau to that of Herriot
Copyright. 1927